The King
by Lady Eowyn of Ithilien
Summary: Second in the Endgame Series. The war's over, but who said rebuilding would be easy? The enemy has blighted more than just the ROOTS of Konoha. Stung by Ino's betrayal, Shikamaru seeks resolution while Ino seeks absolution. Together, they risk everything, going undercover in a stronghold of ROOT.
1. Chapter 51

**This is the sequel to ****_The Endgame_****. I would recommend reading ****_The Endgame_**** first before starting on ****_The King_****. ****_The King_**** will give huge spoilers for ****_The Endgame._**

* * *

**The King**

**Second in the Endgame Series. The war's over, but who said rebuilding would be easy? Naruto's Hokage Inauguration is plagued by an old enemy of Konoha. Stung by the betrayal from the woman he loves, Shikamaru seeks resolution while Ino seeks absolution; they risk everything, going undercover in a village believed to be a stronghold of ROOT. Sasuke finds babysitting his nephews a perilous task. ShikaIno, NaruSaku, SasuHina, KakaAnko**

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In chess, the endgame is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. The endgame tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important as endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-One **

In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame, he is one of the star actors. - Aaron Nimzowitsch

* * *

**Senju Yamato**

The ANBU Commander paused with his hand on the front door to Yamanaka Flowers. He could hear the giggling and hollering of several children's voices inside.

"Auntie Ino! Auntie Ino!" hollered the voice of his older daughter. "Look, I made a flower!"

"That's beautiful, Takara," came Ino's voice, "Can you show me again? I want to watch."

His younger daughter's excited voice said, "I want to watch too!"

"Come sit with Auntie Ino and we can watch, Kaede."

Takara had been an utter surprise for him and Chika; his ANBU captain had been tricked into getting pregnant by ROOT. She hadn't been forced to sleep with him like Yamanaka Ino had with Uchiha Itachi, but she'd been forced to carry his child.

He'd been surprised when she suggested they get married and raise the baby together. They'd be married for a little over five years now. They had two beautiful daughters, Takara and Kaede and a baby boy would be added to their happy family in a few short months.

Naruto, who had become Hokage only three weeks ago, had dropped the kids off at Yamanaka flowers after they finished class at the academy. They had all been on high alert since the foiled kidnapping attempt on the Uchiha triplets and his daughter.

After his parentage was revealed, he began using the surname of his father Senju Tobirama. Chika had excitedly declared that their children should have his surname, so his two daughters Takara and Kaede were named Senju Takara and Senju Kaede. Had he made his children a target by using his father's name?

"Mom," asked one of the triplets, "Why can't I make flowers grow like Takara, Kaede and her dad can?"

"Kurohyou, that's because it's a kekkei genkai. It's the same reason that you're able to use the Sharingan and Takara won't."

"Oh," said Karasu, "Like Uncle Sasuke."

After the ROOT incident, Ino had considerable trouble finding work. The protocol was execution after such betrayal, but her pregnancy had forced the village to be lenient. There was some talk of execution after the children were born, but Kakashi and the new council had enough influence to stop that in its tracks.

Ino was decommissioned from active service and removed from her position at the Torture and Interrogation Department. Morino Ibiki was metaphorically pulling out his hair every day because of that idiotic decision. Ino should have been on the fast track for the position of the Head of the T&I Department.

The Konoha Council was in favor of just letting the whole thing slide, but the Union of Konoha Civilians was not as sympathetic. Kakashi and the rest of the Council were fighting a battle against the Union. It was the Union calling for Ino's head and the heads of her three little boys. They weren't aware of the truth of Itachi's history or service and Ino's involvement in bringing down ROOT. They saw Ino as a kunoichi who had not only knowingly betrayed their village to an enemy, but had also been the lover of the most dangerous S-Rank criminal to turn rogue from Konoha. They didn't see her as a courageous seventeen year old girl, broken hearted and in over her head.

Ino worked at the flower shop and took care of the triplets, which was a full time job. She wasn't allowed to work for any division of the Konoha Shinobi Forces or take missions anymore; however, there was one group that operated independently of Konoha's Shinobi Forces, ANBU.

Her intelligence gathering expertise was especially valuable for ANBU. Ino did a little T&I contract work for Ibiki, dressed in the wonderfully anonymous uniform of ANBU. No one knew that she was a ninja and she liked to keep it that way.

Yamato opened the door to Yamanaka Flowers and called out, "Where are my beautiful daughters?"

Kaede squealed with joy and ran over to him. She had Chika's wild red hair and his brown eyes. Takara hop skipped over to him, her brown pig tails moved up and down with her. She pulled at his pants. "Daddy, daddy! Watch, I made a flower."

She held out her hands and he watched as a little buttercup grew from her palm. She held it under her chin and grinned at him. He picked her up and threw her in the air. "That's wonderful, Takara. I'll show you how to make a whole meadow of flowers."

She squealed as he tossed her into the air. Ino chuckled and picked up Kaede from the floor, holding the toddler against her hip. Tapping the red haired girl on the nose, Ino said, "Don't look so glum, Kaede, I'm sure that you'll be making beautiful flowers in no time."

Kaede hugged Ino around the neck, pressing her cheek against Ino's. "I love you, Auntie Ino."

The blonde woman laughed and said, "I love you too, Kaede."

A dark haired boy and a blonde haired boy wandered over to them. Uzumaki Masato held out Takara's school bag for her and Uchiha Kurohyou crossed his arms over his chest, considering Yamato carefully.

"Uncle Yamato," Kurohyou demanded. "Can you make flowers too? Is making flowers the Senju kekkei genkai?"

Yamato laughed. "Not exactly. I have something called the Mokuton, which means that I can combine earth style chakra and water style chakra together to make wood style chakra. So Takara and I can create trees or flowers or grass or wood out of chakra."

Kurohyou scratched his head. Yamato put Takara back on her feet and she accepted her bag from Masato. Pulling a scroll out of his pocket, Yamato handed it to Ino with a wink. She nodded to Takara's backpack and he raised an eyebrow in understanding.

* * *

**Interlude**

_"Jeez," said Suigetsu from across the aisle. "Calm down, Sasuke."_

_"How can I be calm!" hollered the enraged Uchiha. "I shouldn't be sitting out here in the waiting room. My nephews are being born in that room. I want to be there!" said Sasuke, starting to pull out his hair._

_Naruto glanced at them in amusement from his seat next to Suigetsu. His arms were crossed over his chest. "She'll be fine. Sakura, Shizune and Karin are delivering the babies and they're experts."_

_Everyone flinched when Ino let out another ear-piercing scream from the other room. "Kami, it hurts like hell!"_

_"You're doing great, Ino," came the muffled sound of Sakura's voice over Ino's screaming. "The first baby's crowning, just a little bit more."_

_"Kami, I wish Uchiha Itachi was here so I could kill him myself!"_

_Suigetsu laughed, "Trust me, Sasuke, you don't want to be in there right now."_

_Sasuke glared at his friend. "I want to see my nephews. It's insulting they wouldn't let me in the room."_

_"You'll get to meet them soon," said Hinata beaming at him._

_"You'll probably want to see them when Ino's feeling less homicidal," commented Suigetsu._

_After a couple anxious minutes of Ino's screams and curses at the Uchiha clan, ROOT, babies, medical ninjas, and mind wipes, there was the soft wail of a baby. Everyone in the waiting soon was silent. _

_"I can't stand all this waiting," growled Sasuke._

_Finally the door to the delivery room opened and a red haired girl wearing scrubs walked out. She had a wide grin on her face and a tiny bundle in her arms. She walked over to them and said, "I'm going to take little Karasu to the nursery, but I thought you'd want to see him first."_

_The red head grinned and shifted the baby in her arms so they could look at his face. He had a dark patch of hair on his head and huge dark blue eyes. He blinked up at the people crowding around him._

_"His eyes are blue," said Sasuke._

_"All babies have blue eyes," said Karin. "They settle into their true color after a little while."_

_"Hey there little guy," said Naruto his hand towards the baby. Karasu grasped the blonde's pointer finger in his little hands. "He's got a strong grip."_

_"Can I hold him?" asked Sasuke._

_Ino had started screaming in the delivery room again, causing the baby to pull on Naruto's finger and start crying. _

_"Is Ino alright in there?" wondered Naruto. "It was kinda scary listening to it from out here."_

_"Trust me, it was scarier from in there," said Karin. _

_"Kami, I hate you Uchiha Itachi!" came Ino's shriek from the delivery room._

_The red haired medical ninja ran off to put the baby in the nursery and scrubbed back in to help the others in the delivery room. Sasuke pouted. "I didn't get to hold him."_

_"Don't worry, man," said Suigetsu. "There's two more coming."_

_Ino's screams had reached a crescendo, "I'm going to Edo Tensei that Shimura Danzo and then I'm going to rip out all of his Sharingan eyes with a spoon!"_

_Naruto looked uneasy. "Man, Ino's gonna kill someone when she's done in there."_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

She unsealed the documents from the scroll that Yamato had given her and leafed through them. They sure weren't shy about loading her with work. The case load had been especially large this last month with Ibiki and Karin away on an intelligence gathering mission.

It had been slow going. The documents were piling up in her closet. She'd just been so preoccupied lately. She was still mourning Choji, Yoshino, and Choji's wife Sumire.

She would have lost her mind or her sanity if not for Yoshino and Choji. They'd been her rock and her salvation after Shikamaru broke her heart and she found herself alone, without a job, with three babies. She loved her three sons fiercely but it was a lot for a frightened seventeen year old girl to deal with, especially when it became common knowledge that they were the last members of the Uchiha clan.

There had been a number of attempted kidnappings and assassination attempts when the triplets were infants. She'd been sleeping with one eye open for the last five years. Every attempt was thwarted easily, except for the last one.

She'd lost Yoshino, Choji, and Sumire and she'd nearly lost Karasu, Kawauso, and Kurohyou as well. Kurohyou had been abducted during the confusion of Naruto's Inauguration speeches and Yoshino, Choji, and Sumire took the other children back to Choji's house to keep them safe while they went after Kurohyou. This was what the kidnappers had been hoping for. They slaughtered the adults and stole the children.

Shikamaru was there too; he was there for Naruto's Inauguration. He hadn't been back to Konoha for five years. She doubted he would have returned if not for Naruto's Hokage Inauguration. After the Inauguration, he stayed an extra week to bury his mother.

She went to his house to offer her condolences about his mother. They'd been in the same village for a full two weeks and hadn't spoken a word to each other.

At the time she'd been delirious from lack of sleep and the stress of her sons lying still in their hospital beds. He hadn't looked much better; he seemed equally distraught. Somehow they'd fallen into bed together one last time.

She hadn't really planned for it to happen; they'd both been half of out of their minds with grief. She fell asleep right after and when she woke up the next morning, sore from his rough penetrations, he was gone. The only sign that he'd been there at all was the soreness and mess between her legs and a note on the kitchen table.

Ino started at the loud crash from downstairs and the sound of three boy's laughter. The boys were home from the academy. She, Naruto, Sakura, Yamato, Chika, or Sasuke always walked them home. The kidnapping had been two weeks ago, but Karin and Ibiki hadn't found any conclusive evidence about the kidnappers.

The boys – and by the boys, she meant Kurohyou – decided that all the attention and rules about always having an adult watching them was too bothersome. They weren't able to play with Takara, Masato, and Asuka as much anymore. Takara, Masato, and Asuka of course were thrilled to have their parents protecting them from the bad people.

Kurohyou, her crazy son, had decided that he was going to protect them.

She quickly tossed the documents into her closet and not a minute too soon.

Kurohyou knocked on her bedroom door. "Mom, me and Kawauso want to—"

"Kawauso and I, honey," she corrected her son.

Kawauso and Karasu poked their heads in her room.

Kurohyou rolled his dark eyes at her and started again, "_Kawauso and I_ are going to the park. Masato said that he's going to show us his new jutsu. I bet him that he couldn't learn tree-walking and he said that he has, so I need to go to prove him wrong."

Ino scratched the back of her neck. "Whose parent is going to be there?"

Kurohyou looked uneasy at Kawauso for a split second before replying, "Masato said that his mom's going."

Ino frowned at him. "You'll have to do better than that, sweetheart. Shinobi Rule Number Nineteen: A shinobi must never be caught in a lie."

Kawauso and Karasu both looked uncomfortable.

"I wasn't lying." Kurohyou pouted.

Ino smirked at her unruly son. Of the triplets, Kurohyou reminded her of herself the most. Maybe that's why he was such a pain in the ass. "I know for a fact that Sakura's on shift at the hospital until ten tonight, so she can't go to the park with you."

Kurohyou raised an eyebrow. "She's sending a shadow clone."

Ino raised both her eyebrows back at him. "Remember. We said no shadow clones; those can be dispelled too easily by a kidnapper. It has to be a real jonin."

Kurohyou crossed his arms over his chest. "You watch me and you're not a jonin. You're not even a ninja."

"You're not to talk to me that way, young man!" she yelled.

Kawauso and Karasu frowned at their triplet. "He doesn't mean it," said Kawauso jumping to Kurohyou's defense.

She squeezed the bridge of her nose. "I'll take you guys to the park. Let's see if you can tree walk better than me."

Kawauso and Karasu cheered. Kurohyou's lips curved into a smile as well.

* * *

**Family Trees**

**Uchiha Itachi (Deceased) = Yamanaka Ino (21)**

Uchiha Kurohyou (Boy – 4)

Uchiha Kawauso (Boy – 4)

Uchiha Karasu (Boy – 4)

**Hatake Kakashi (36) = Mitarashi Anko (36)**

Hatake Katsumi (Girl – 2)

**Senju Yamato (31) = Yamanaka Chika (29)**

Senju Takara (Girl – 4)

Senju Kaede (Girl – 2)

**Uzumaki Naruto (21) = Haruno Sakura (21)**

Uzumaki Masato (Boy – 4)

Uzumaki Reiko (Girl – 2)

**Sarutobi Asuma (Deceased) = Yuuhi Kurenai (36)**

Sarutobi Asuka (Girl – 4)

**Hyuga Hinata (21) = Uchiha Sasuke (21) **

Uchiha Hiroaki (Boy - 2)

Uchiha Hiromitsu (Boy - 2)

**Akimichi Choji (Deceased) = Sumire (Deceased)**

Akimichi Choukichi (Boy - newborn)


	2. Chapter 52

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews! I had lots of nice constructive criticism for the previous chapter, so I've made some changes to the previous chapter. Several things weren't well explained, so I wanted to offer so more background on current events - like what's going on between Ino and Shikamaru.**

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**Chapter Fifty-Two**

The king, which during the opening and middlegame stage is often a burden because it has to be defended, becomes in the endgame a very important and aggressive piece, and the beginner should realize this, and utilize his king as much as possible. - Jose Capablanca

* * *

**Interlude**

**_Mom held his hand tightly as dad ran into the Akimichi's house with Uncle Sasuke, Uncle Kakashi, and the large red haired man. Mom had explained that the man's name was Akimichi Choza. _**

**_It was deathly quiet. Karasu, Kawauso, and Takara were gone too. They're stolen Kurohyou at the center of town and the others here. He was all alone. _**

**_He stepped away from his mother and the whole scene froze. He was standing beside mom, who held Reiko against her hip in one arm, but he was also walking towards the house._**

**_The door creaked open and he walked in. The place looked exactly like his house. Dad, Uncle Sasuke, Uncle Kakashi, and that large red haired man weren't there though, which was weird. He was alone._**

**_He went into the living room and saw the bodies. They weren't strangers; they were Mom and Dad and Granny and Gramps. Karasu, Kawauso, Kurohyou, Takara, and Asuka were dead on the floor next to them. _**

_He jolted out of the dream screaming._

_Dad ran into the room a minute later and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "I'm here, Masato. I'm here."_

_He gripped him tightly. "I'm scared, Dad," he said in a small voice._

_Dad picked him up and carried him out of the room. "Let's get a glass of chocolate milk downstairs. That always makes me feel better."_

_Masato rested his head on Dad's shoulder. He always liked to tease Dad that he was not as strong or as smart as Mom, but to tell the truth…when he was scared of something, he liked having Dad fight the monsters for him. _

_Dad was the Hokage; he was strong and funny and nice and awesome. Masato was really proud of him. _

_Dad put him down on one of the stools at the island in the center of the kitchen. Rummaging around in the cabinets, Dad took out two glasses and placed them in front of Masato. Wanting to help, Masato climbed down off the stool and went to the fridge to find the chocolate syrup. While he was looking in the fridge for the chocolate syrup, Dad took the gallon of milk from the side shelf and headed back to the island to pour their glasses. Masato was just grabbing the chocolate syrup when Dad was putting back the milk. _

_Masato grinned at Dad as he closed the door to the fridge. Dad tossed him up in the air and dropped them down on the stools at the island. Dad handed him a long spoon and Masato squirted the chocolate syrup into their glasses and stirred them._

_"Same nightmare?" wondered Dad._

_"Yeah," he said quietly. "It was our house this time, with you and Mom and Granny and Gramps."_

_Dad took a sip of his chocolate milk and rubbed Masato's back. "It's alright to be scared, Masato."_

_He looked into his milk. "I know."_

_Dad put a hand around his shoulders. "Did you know that the triplet's mom can erase those memories?"_

_"Really?" he wondered. "She can do that?"_

_"She has a special jutsu that can change and modify memories. Would you like me to talk to her?"_

_Masato looked into his milk. "I don't want to remember, but I don't want to forget. What kind of ninja would I be if I ran away from my problems?"_

_Dad laughed. "That's a very grown up response."_

_Masato took a long gulp of his milk and then pointed to his chocolate milk mustache. "I'm a grown up, Dad. See!"_

_Dad laughed and took a long gulp too; he pointed to his chocolate milk mustache. "Me too!"_

_Masato hugged Dad tightly, probably smearing his mustache on Dad's shirt. "I love you, Dad."_

_"I love you too, Masato."_

* * *

**Hyuga Hinata**

She waved over the waiter and ordered the dishes for the table. Her two year old twins were sitting in their big kid chairs excitedly.

Her appetite had grown now that she was pregnant; she was in her third trimester. She didn't really want to have any more children, but Sasuke was insistent about rebuilding the Uchiha clan. She had one miscarriage and a stillborn before having the twins and another miscarriage before having this baby. She wasn't sure her heart could take any more heartbreak.

Her OB/GYN explained to them that the miscarriages were due to the fact that both of them had dominant kekkei genkai. Hinata was from the head family and Sasuke was from a strong branch of the Uchiha clan. Pregnancies between the head families of the Uchiha and Hyuga clan were known to be difficult.

Strangely enough, when the kekkei genkai was diluted in a lesser branch of the family where the Byakugan or Sharingan gene wasn't as strong, pregnancies were easy and the child often manifested one dojutsu or one of each.

Sasuke had been furious. He yelled at the OB/GYN citing some survey that the Cipher Division had done years ago. Uchiha/Hyuga pregnancies had never been an issue in the past! Why did Hinata have such trouble carrying his children to term?

The woman didn't have an answer.

"Daddy, daddy," Hiroaki cried excitedly. "Tokuma-sensei showed us how to see chakra points today! Can I show you?"

Hiromitsu cheered, "Can I show you, daddy? I'm better at it!"

Hinata laughed. "You can show _me_, Hiromitsu. Hiroaki can do it for daddy and you can do it for mommy."

Sasuke held out his arm and watched his son carefully as he pressed the pressure point on his arm. "See?"

Sasuke nodded. "Very good, Hiroaki. You've learned a lot already. I'm impressed."

"Let me try, let me try!" Hiromitsu called excitedly. Sasuke moved his other arm into his son's grasp. Hiromitsu looked carefully at his father's arm hoping to replicate the feat that his twin had achieved.

Hinata smiled reminiscently. She could remember playing this same game with her mother and father as a child. It was one of the first training techniques that Hyuga children learned when controlling their Byakugan and working towards the gentle fist technique. First finding pressure points with the naked eye, then finding chakra points with the Byukugan.

"Mom," said the voice of a young boy from the street nearby. "These rules are so silly. We can get home after school at the academy fine. We don't need babysitters."

"Rules are stupid," agreed another little boy.

Hiromitsu finished examining his father's arm and looked to Sasuke for similar praise but Sasuke's attention was focused on the beautiful blonde woman herding a trio of dark haired boys.

She grinned at Hiromitsu and patted him on the shoulder. "Very good, Hiromitsu. You and your brother are going to be very strong ninja."

Hinata watched Sasuke watching Ino. She knew that she was being foolish, but she had always been so jealous of the attention Sasuke languished on Ino and her children. He always said it was because they were Itachi's children, what if it was for another reason? Ino was so beautiful…

The harried voice of Yamanaka Ino answered, "Kurohyou, I'm sure that you're more than capable of escorting yourself home…"

"See!" cheered the Kurohyou.

"…if," she interrupted. "If you weren't currently being stalked by an enemy of Konoha. You were kidnapped last month. Did you forget that already? I don't want you guys wandering around without an adult."

"But mom!" Kawauso protested. "We've awoken our Sharingans. We can protect ourselves fine."

Sasuke turned back to Hinata. "I'll be right back."

He stood up from the table and hurried over to talk with Yamanaka Ino and her dark haired, Sharingan eyed children – her Uchiha children.

"Kawauso," Ino scolded. "You know that's dangerous. The chakra drain could kill you. You need to practice with your Sharingan in a safe environment before you use it to fight kidnappers."

"My shuriken jutsu is real good," continued the Kurohyou. "I'm can use…"

"Kurohyou," cut in Karasu. "Listen to mom. She has a point."

"Karasu!" the Kurohyou. "Don't take her side!"

"We should be on guard and not make any unnecessarily risky moves while the kidnappers are still free. If we walked home alone we'd make ourselves targets," Karasu retorted.

Kurohyou exclaimed, "I'll be ready for them next time. Next time they won't get me and they won't get Karasu, Kawauso, and Takara and they won't kill anyone! I won't be helpless again!"

Ino crouched down in front of him and took his hands in hers. Hinata couldn't hear what she was saying to the boy, but after a moment the boy leapt forward to give his mom a hug. Ino returned it; reaching for her other sons and they wrapped their arms around their mother as well.

Sasuke walked over and put a hand on Karasu's shoulder, smiling at the boys.

Hiroaki climbed into Hinata's lap and looked at her curiously. "Mom, who's that lady that dad's talking to?"

"That's the triplet's mom," said Hinata.

Hiromitsu tried to climb up on her lap too, so she had to scoot back to accommodate him. "The triplets are our cousins right?" asked Hiromitsu.

"Yes, they are," replied Hinata.

The twins looked over her shoulder at the scene playing out in the middle of the street. Sasuke was talking excitedly to the triplets. She saw how his arm rested so comfortably on Karasu's shoulder.

They looked like a family.

"Uncle Kiba!" Hiromitsu cheered loudly into her ear.

Hinata startled and looked where Hiromitsu was facing. She smiled at her genin teammate. He had grown handsome over the years, steady and dependable despite his roguish looks: slitted pupils, wild brown hair, and all that leather.

Akamasu barked next to him and trotted up to the twins.

"Hi Kiba," she smiled at him.

He rested a hand on the back of her chair and said, "Hey, Hinata."

"Uncle Kiba! Uncle Kiba!" hollared Hiroaki. "Can I ride Akamaru? Please?"

"Please?" begged his twin.

Kiba laughed uproariously and grabbed Hiroaki out of Hinata's lap and twirled him around in the air before depositing him on the dog. Hiromitsu ran up to his mother's teammate holding his hands up in the air.

"Me next!"

Kiba completed the same feat again, laughing with the boys as he set them on the ninja hound. Akamaru barked excitedly and then bounded off with the twins grabbing tightly onto his fur.

Kiba sat down in the seat Sasuke vacated and put his hand over hers gently. "Alright there, Hinata?"

She smiled at him. How was it that he always knew when she was in trouble, when she needed his support? She sighed and said, "I'm just thinking about something."

He squeezed her hand and teased, "You know that's dangerous."

She smiled at him and turned around to watch her sons bounce around on her teammate's dog. Ino and Sasuke were crouched next to the triplets laughing at something Kurohyou had said. Kiba's hand was warm in hers. She squeezed it back.

* * *

**Interlude**

**_The people in masks dragged her along with her hands tied. She glanced over at the triplets. Kawauso was unconscious, Kurohyou had a head wound that was bleeding heavily, and Karasu's eyes were bleeding. They were bright red._**

**_They stopped in a clearing after a couple frantic hours of running away from Konoha. She was thrown against the base of a tree and her friends were tossed next to her. Struggling with her bound hands, she was still unable to remove them. _**

**_"I can sense them too," said one of the masked men. "I thought it would take them longer to find us."_**

**_"I'll get the kids. You try to hold them off. We need to get them to VULTURE."_**

**_She tried to loosen the bindings with her teeth, but the thing was too tight. Kawauso stirred next to her. Kurohyou was working against the bindings around his hands and Karasu rubbed his hands over his eyes._**

**_"It hurts," Karasu whined._**

**_She turned to look at him and gasped finally seeing his eyes from close up. They were a livid red. She glanced at the others to warn them not to panic, but Kurohyou's eyes were red and so were Kawauso's._**

**_She gasped as blood dripped from the corner of their eyes like tears. The trails of crimson scored their cheeks. She closed her eyes against the sight, crying. When she wiped at the tears, her hand came away covered in blood. Her eyes were bleeding too...? _**

_Takara shrieked in horror._

_Kaede climbed into her bed and hugged her around the waist. "Takara?"_

_She wiped her eyes, and hugged her little sister. She glanced down at her tears; they were tears now, not blood. _

_Mommy and Daddy opened the door and poked their heads in. Daddy and Mommy covered the room in a couple steps and scooped them both up. Mommy grabbed Kaede and pulled her into her lap and Daddy pulled her into his lap. She snuggled against Daddy, sniffling._

_Mommy rubbed her back and Daddy combed his hands through her hair. "Same nightmare again, sweetheart?" he asked._

_"Yeah," Takara sniffled. _

_"Just let it all out," Mommy said, rubbing her back with Kaede still in her arms. _

_Takara sniffled and cried, wiping her tears and snot all over Daddy's shirt. He and Mommy shared a look and he said, "It's alright, Takara. We're here."_

_"There was so much blood," she sniffed. "Why was there so much blood?"_

_Mommy took a deep breath and said, "That's because we needed to fight the bad people to save you, Takara."_

_Takara shook her head. "No, not that. Why were their eyes bleeding? Karasu's, Kawauso's, and Kurohyou's eyes were bleeding, Daddy."_

_Daddy rubbed her back. "That was the Sharingan awakening. It's a scary thing, Takara. Their eyes turn red."_

_"I hate the Sharingan," sniffed Takara. _

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. – KONOHA – AFTERNOON – ESTABLISHING

MONTAGE:

1.) A warm breeze blows through the forest and ruffles the awnings of Ichiraku Ramen.

2.) A swan lands in the lake and ripples bloom out from where the bird landed.

3.) Ino lays down next to Shikamaru on his hill and points out a cloud to him.

4.) Naruto looks up as Sasuke sits next to him and orders another bowl of Ramen.

FIRUMA: (VOICE OVER)

My name is Firuma. You may have heard of

me. I'm the director best known for

Lawrence of Suna, Dances with Ninken, A

Beautiful Genjutsu, No Country for Old

Ninja, and The Kage's Speech. However, by

far my greatest struggle and triumph would be

a little film called Makeout Tactics. With

Makeout Tactics I accomplished what had long

been considered impossible: casting actual

shinobi for shinobi roles. They all told me

that I was crazy. They all told me that

ninjas were too wild, too ugly, too raw.

They told me that it would be a flop. They

all were wrong. This is my story.

INT. KONOHA, HOKAGE's OFFICE – AFTERNOON

A middle aged man storms up to the Hokage Tower. His one size too small button down shirt strains over his pot belly. There's a large coffee stain down his front. His messy brown hair pokes out of his baseball cap.

Firuma opens the door to Tsunade's office and slams a portfolio down on the desk. Headshots of Ibiki Morino, Tsume Inuzuka, Kuromaru, and Choza Akimichi fall onto the floor.

Tsunade is passed out on her desk, which is decorated with two empty bottles of sake and one half empty bottle. Shizune holds off scolding her as Firuma storms in.

FIRUMA:

It's no good! None of these jonin fit the

parts!

Shizune takes a step forward, clutching her pig Tonton to her chest.

SHIZUNE:

(nervously)

But that's everyone who's available.

Firuma waves his arms dramatically.

FIRUMA:

(yells)

They won't do! I need younger ninjas, more

beautiful ninjas. Not these ugly, scarred,

tattooed people!

SHIZUNE:

But there is no one else. All the other

jonin are out of the village on missions.

Firuma storms towards the desk and pulls out the picture of Kuromaru.

FIRUMA:

And you gave me a picture of a dog! A dog!

TONTON:

(indignantly)

Oink!

SHIZUNE:

(angrily)

Kuromaru is a ninja hound. He's achieved

the rank of jonin.

TONTON:

Oink! Oink!

Firuma crosses his arms over his chest.

FIRUMA:

So when will the other jonin be back?

SHIZUNE:

Not for several weeks. Jonin gravitate

towards our A-Rank missions. An A-Rank

mission may take several weeks or months or

even up to several years.

FIRUMA:

Months? years? You can't be serious. I

can't wait that long. We're due to start

filming next month!

Tsunade pours herself a cup of sake and leans back in her chair. She waves a hand drunkenly at Shizune

TSUNADE:

(slurs)

Then give the director the headshots of the

chunin, Shizune.

SHIZUNE:

(gasping)

But Lady Tsunade, this is for parts in the

Makeout Tactics movie! The parts are much

too – too mature for our chunin!

TSUNADE:

(shrugging)

Nah, they'll be fine.

CUT TO BLACK.


	3. Chapter 53

**A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews everyone! I've put a poll on my profile page about what ships you'd like to see in the story. Vote if you have a chance. ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Three**

Chess mastery essentially consists of analyzing chess positions accurately. - Mikhail Botvinnik

* * *

**Uzumaki Karin**

Channeling chakra to her hands, she moved aside the large stones blocking the entrance with a groan. Ibiki was working next to her on some of the larger rocks.

Not in a million years did she think she would ever return to this place, the Land of Sound. After the death of Orochimaru and the defeat of Kabuto, Otogakure became extinct. The once invincible strongholds of Orochimaru were now ghost towns.

Over the years, they'd discovered so little about ROOT. Karin had gotten great intel about ROOT and their plans before they vanquished POSSUM and SPIDER; however, it merely gave them more questions instead of answers.

The retrieval mission had been a blunder from start to finish. DRAGON was killed; POSSUM was killed; SPIDER had her memory wiped by Ino in a fit of rage. Karin could hardly blame the girl. After what SPIDER'd put Ino through, she deserved whatever she got. But why couldn't they have captured her alive _and_ with her memory intact?

Since then it had all be theories and conjectures. There wasn't a single hard fact, not a single thread of evidence.

When the Uchiha triplets and Senju girl were kidnapped, they had a great opportunity of gaining intel from ROOT. However, the agents all took cyanide pills when they realized that their mission was a failure.

She'd written down the names and places and objectives and ran through models with Ibiki, Ino, Yamato, Kakashi, and Naruto, but they hadn't discovered anything. Kakashi had complained that whole time that they were working through various scenarios, claiming that when he was Hokage, he had Nara Shikamaru do all this for him.

Well Shikamaru was off finding himself – the bastard – so who knew when he'd be useful again. Karin was still bitter about the whole thing. Ino was the one who really suffered, but she bore the pain and the heartbreak with a smile on her face.

Before it had been POSSUM, SPIDER, and DRAGON. She and Ibiki had assumed they were the three leaders of ROOT after the death of Danzo. However, it seemed the organization's influenced had spread much further. POSSUM was only one of the ROOT leaders and DRAGON and SPIDER were his lieutenants. There was also COUGAR, VULTURE, and who knows how many others. VULTURE was stealing bloodlines from Kiri. COUGAR was stealing bloodlines from Kumo. They were both women, which was an interesting fact. She could only assume that there were operatives in charge of stealing Iwa and Suna bloodlines.

SPIDER and POSSUM had also mentioned how they'd completed their mission. They were after the Senju and the Uchiha bloodlines, but it seems they had captured the bloodlines of the other notable clans in Konoha as well.

They didn't know where any of these groups were located; they didn't know their numbers; they didn't know their success at the mission; they didn't know if they were stopping at stealing bloodlines.

Was there an ultimate goal?

But she'd gotten a lead on something finally. It was a lead they should have realized years ago, but a lead nonetheless. Orochimaru and Danzo had worked together in that past¸ experimenting on Senju Yamato, so it shouldn't have been a surprise for Orochimaru to be involved with him in other capacities for ROOT. This stealing bloodline scheme was just the sort of thing Orochimaru would have enjoyed doing as a sort of hobby.

Orochimaru had experimented on all of them. Had he also stolen their bloodlines? It would have been easy enough to have a ROOT kunoichi conceive via invitro fertilization. Orochimaru had taken samples of Suigetsu's sperm and her ovum. Sasuke somehow had gotten away scot free. Maybe dirty magazines didn't work for him.

Orochimaru's experiments on her had left her sterile. What if she had a son or daughter out in the world somewhere created by ROOT? What would that mean for her?

She moved the rocks aside and passed into the laboratory. She put a sleeve over her mouth at the foul stench of chemicals and decay. Ibiki moved his hitai-ate from his head to cover his mouth. Karin did the same.

The stone and broken wooden beams creaked as they moved into the old laboratory. There were all manner of the grotesque and the macabre. Rusty instruments: bone saws, bloody forceps, chest spreaders, knives, half-fill syringes. All of the samples of limbs were still in the lab on the shelves on the right wall: eyes, hands, hearts, lungs, a foot, a head. A number of the containers were broken. The fluid stained the floor and the body parts now open to the air rotted.

Wrinkling her nose, she said to Ibiki, "The documents are usually in the backroom or attached to the beds."

Karin crept over to the wooden desk in the back corner of the room. She flipped through the papers on the top of the desk while Ibiki looked through the drawers.

"Why is this place so intact?" Ibiki wondered. "I can't believe that Orochimaru would have left all this stuff lying out."

Karin nodded. "The man was meticulous with his research. But he didn't know he was going to die. This lab was kept a secret from the other Otogakure ninja, but I heard mention of it while I was the prison warden. He must have thought that I wouldn't realize; he was careless."

Ibiki looked up at her with approval from where was crouching in front of the lower drawers. "You're very good at acquiring information, Karin, even then."

Karin slid the papers aside. Brushing back her red hair from her face, she sighed. "No such like today. I can't find anything useful. These are just lists of supplies, nothing remotely interesting."

Ibiki was silent. "I wouldn't lose hope too soon. I found something interesting."

He stood up and handed her a large teal folder. Flipping it open, she gasped at the words on the front page.

**_SHIMURA DANZO_**

**_OPERATION KUNOICHI_**

There were reports and pictures and maps. She hardly dared to breathe.

**_Danzo has tasked me with stealing the bloodlines of several notable ninjas in Konoha. This is my first assignment as a member of ROOT. _**

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Hatake Sakumo_**

She didn't recognize the picture on the page, flipping to the next one page, she gasped down at the picture. It was the second Hokage.

**_Danzo has tasked me with strengthening the kekkei genkai of Senju Tobirama's son. We have gathered orphans from the village to test the procedure on._**

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Senju Tobirama_**

Flipping through the pages, she could feel her smile widening.

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Akasuna no Sasori_**

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Third Kazekage_**

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Hozuki Suigetsu_**

**_OBJECTIVE:_**

**_Uzumaki Karin_**

Her fingers trembled seeing her own name on the list and her own picture staring back at her.

**_Danzo has passed along information from a contact in Kusagakure. There is a genin who was a survivor from the Uzushigakure massacre. She possesses the Uzumaki vitality. Danzo wishes me to steal her bloodline for his organization. _**

**_I'm very interested in seeing if I can perfect it first. _**

* * *

**Interlude**

_Hinata looked up at him as he walked into their bedroom and dropped his ANBU vest and arm guards on the floor next to the door. They clanked discordantly. She folded down the page in her book and closed it, putting it on the bedside table._

_"How are the triplets?" she asked quietly._

_Sasuke walked to their closet and pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his pants. He climbed into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Resting his head against her massively pregnant belly, he muttered, "There hasn't been any change. They're still in intensive care. I sent Ino home, she looked like a ghost."_

_She ran a hand through his hair. "The boys are strong. They'll pull through." _

_He mumbled into her belly, wrapping his arms tighter around her. "They're only children, Hinata. I don't know if they'll pull through."_

_"Everything will turn out okay, you'll see."_

_He ran a hand over her belly where their third child was growing. "They need to be okay. They're the future of the Uchiha clan. All three awoke their Sharingans, I don't know if the twins will be able to. This baby is another chance for me to revive my clan."_

_"Sasuke," she whispered._

_He closed his eyes. "I love you," he mumbled sleepily._

_She sighed unhappily. Did he love her truly or just because she was the matriarch of the Uchiha clan? Or was Yamanaka Ino the matriarch of the clan? _

_Reviving the clan sounded like such a wonderful idea in theory. She loved her husband, she loved children, and he was such a passionate lover. However, after the second miscarriage and the veiled disappointment in his eyes when he saw his son's not-Sharingan eyes; she'd begun to reconsider._

_She missed being a ninja._

* * *

**Hatake Kakashi**

His daughter's silver head was bowed over her coloring book. She flipped over onto her stomach and reached into the plastic box to find a green crayon. She turned her dark eyes on him.

"Daddy, are you working? Naruto-sama says that you never work."

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. "I'm as surprised as you are, sweetheart."

She found the pencil, and stood up and toddled over to him. "Daddy, can I help?"

He winked at her with his single visible eye and picked her up and dropped her on his lap. "Sure. I'm writing a letter to the Tanikage. You can help!"

"What's a Tanny cake?"

Anko walked into the living room, holding a hand on her lower back. She was six months along with their second child. She sat down heavily on a chair with a groan. She wiped a hand across her forehead.

Katsumi colored the top of the letter with her pencil, asking, "When's mommy having the baby?"

"You'll have a little brother in three months," Anko answered. "Kakashi, I want dango."

Kakashi blinked his single eye, sharing a glance with his daughter. "Your mommy's scary when she's pregnant."

Katsumi giggled and jumped off her father's lap to run to her mother. "Mitarashi Dango! Get me some too, Daddy!"

"If you want to live," said Anko with a feral grin.

"And ice cream," said Katsumi excitedly.

"And ice cream," Anko agreed. "Pistachio ice cream."

"Mitarashi dango and pistachio ice cream coming right up," said Kakashi forming a handsign.

He heard his wife saying to their daughter, "We're not going to see him for hours, why don't you show mommy your picture, Katsumi?"

"I'm writing to the Tanny cake, mommy!"

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE TWO

EXT: KONOHA, TEAM 7 TRAINING GROUNDS – AFTERNOON

A flock of birds flee from the trees and a baseball cap wearing movie director clings onto the upper branches for dear life as one of the shinobi sparring below hurls the other against the tree.

NARUTO

tosses a brace of kunai at -

SASUKE

who blocks the kunai with his sword and charges Naruto with the Chidori.

NARUTO

charges at Sasuke with a Rasengan.

They collide in a shower of sparks.

NARUTO:

(changes into his sexy jutsu form and puts a hand on his hip)

I'm so awesome!

SASUKE:

(rolls eyes)

Firuma scurries down from the tree and approaches them.

FIRUMA:

(clapping)

Magnificent! And you're both so beautiful!

You're hired!

NARUTO:

(scratches head)

Huh?

SASUKE:

(blinks)

INTERCUT WITH:

EXT: KONOHA, SHIKAMARU's CLOUD WATCHING HILL – AFTERNOON

A shinobi with his dark hair in a spiky ponytail is sprawled out on his back in a field overlooking Konoha. A beautiful blonde haired kunoichi sits next to him with her knees clutched to her chest.

Neither notices a man with a coffee stained button down shirt watching them closely.

INO:

(poking his shoulder)

Are you even listening? This is serious,

Shika!

SHIKAMARU

(huffs)

I'm listening, I'm listening. Just quit

poking me, woman.

INO:

(pokes his shoulder harder)

My dad won't let me take the ANBU

Examination! He says that the missions and

interrogations that I would do as ANBU

operative are too – TOO ADULT - for me to

handle! When he gets back from the mission

he's on. I'm going to give him a piece of

my mind!

SHIKAMARU:

(rubs his shoulder)

He might have a point Ino. He knows what

the missions are like. He would have a

better idea than us if you would be able to

handle them.

INO:

(jumps up angrily)

But I'm sixteen! I'm not a child anymore!

Firuma, the director, hurries up and throws him arms around Ino excitedly.

FIRUMA:

(rubs his cheek against Ino's cheek)

Here's my leading lady!

INO:

(looking horrified)

What?

Shikamaru leaps up and pulls Firuma's arms away from Ino and pushes the other man back.

SHIKAMARU:

(scowling)

Who the hell are you?

FIRUMA:

(looking at Shikamaru with stars in his

eyes)

Scowl for me again!

SHIKAMARU:

(raises eyebrow)

FIRUMA:

You're perfect! So much attitude! So much

passion! You're hired!

SHIKAMARU:

(scowling)

Troublesome.


	4. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty-Four**

Of course, analysis can sometimes give more accurate results than intuition but usually it's just a lot of work. I normally do what my intuition tells me to do. Most of the time spent thinking is just to double-check. - Magnus Carlsen

* * *

**Interlude**

_She found him up on the hill overlooking Konoha. It was his favorite cloud watching spot. He glanced sideways at her as she stretched out next to him and then looked back at the clouds._

_"Shikamaru, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. You've left Konoha. Do I…am I supposed to chase after you?"_

_He glanced sideways at her. She lay on her side staring at him. He huffed and rolled onto his side. "Ino, trust me, you are the last person I want to talk to right now."_

_Her eyes glittered with tears. "I've ruined everything, haven't I?" She put a hand to her belly. In her mindscape it was flat even though she was eight months pregnant by now. He'd caught Itachi watching a video of Ino pouting over her massively pregnant belly the other day. _

_He pursed his lips and rolled back onto his back. Huffing in annoyance, he said, "For now, yes, I just need time and a little space to deal with what's happened and I can't do that in Konoha where I'll see you wandering around eight month's pregnant with Uchiha Itachi's children."_

_"I…I love you," she said. "That must count for something. Maybe if I go to the Daimyo's Palace to see you—"_

_Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Kami, why did have the misfortune of falling in love with such a troublesome woman. "You're eight months pregnant, Ino. You're not going anywhere."_

_She sighed. "I know. It's just-"_

_"Why don't you write me a letter? I can decide if I want to read it or not." _

_She glanced at him. Her face betrayed such hope. "Really? What should I say?"_

_"Doesn't matter. Why don't you try telling the truth for once?"_

* * *

**Uchiha Kurohyou**

"Hey mom, do you know any of the special Yamanaka clan jutsu?" Kurohyou asked.

Mom glanced behind her at him as she moved around the chicken and vegetables in the wok. Dinner was starting to smell really good. Mom looked really pretty today in a light blue dress. His mom was the prettiest mom at the academy. The dads always looked at her when she picked him and his brothers from school and blushed if she talked to them. Kurohyou wished that didn't stare so much. It was rude to stare at other people's moms.

Karasu looked up from the kitchen table where he was reading a scroll that Uncle Sasuke had given him about the Sharingan. "They were talking about the Shinobi clans in class today," Karasu explained.

Kurohyou shrugged, walking into the kitchen and climbing into a chair at the table. "They didn't really talk about anything specific. Just that the Uchiha are known for their fire jutsu and Sharingans, the Senju are known for their water and earth and wood jutsu, Uzumaki are known for sealing and their large chakra reserves, Sarutobi are known for the fire jutsus and monkey summons, Inuzuka are known for their ninja dogs, Aburame are known for their bugs, Hyuga are known for their Byakugan, Akimichi are known for being fat…"

Mom let out a laugh. "Don't ever tell an Akimichi that they're fat. They don't like that. They have a bloodline that lets them convert calories into chakra. They need to eat a lot to fuel their chakra reserves."

"Cool," said Kurohyou.

Karasu jumped down from his seat and ran upstairs, yelling, "Kawauso, Mom's telling us about the Yamanaka Clan! Come down!"

Resting his elbow on the table, Kurohyou waited while his triplets thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen. They hopped into the chairs at the table, looking excited.

A fight had erupted in school when they started talking about the Uchiha clan, so they didn't really get to talk about the Yamanaka clan at all. Kurohyou didn't even realize that his mom was from a ninja clan. She wasn't a ninja; she was their mom. But Iruka-sensei said there was a Yamanaka Clan in Konoha.

Kawauso interrupted him, saying, "Mom, Iruka-sensei said that the Yamanaka clan specializes in mental techniques. What does that mean?"

Mom turned back to the stir fry. After she checked that the rice was doing alright, she turned down the heat on the vegetables and chicken. Holding out her wooden spatula, she leaned against the counter away from the stove.

"Mental techniques? Well the main jutsu of the Yamanaka clan is something called the Shintenshin no Jutsu. With it, you can send your mind into someone else's body and take over that person's body."

Karasu rubbed his head. "Isn't that dangerous? Does your mind leave your body?"

Mom nodded. "Yes. You have to have someone you trust watch your body while you invade someone's mind either to retrieve information or pretend to be that person and act as a spy."

"Can you teach us?" asked Kawauso.

Mom moved back to the stovetop, checking on dinner. She turned to them and said, "I have some scrolls that you can read about some Yamanaka clan techniques, but you really shouldn't practice this technique until you're a little bit older. It's dangerous sending your mind out of your body. When you're young and don't have good enough chakra control your mind might get trapped or overwhelmed by the person whose mind you're trying to take over."

"Do you know any of the Yamanaka clan's other jutsu?" wondered Kurohyou.

"Sure I do," said Mom, pouring the sauce into the wok. "I'm the Head of the Yamanaka Clan after all, aren't I?"

"You're what?" gasped Kurohyou. "You're a Clan Head? No you're not. You're our mom."

Mom laughed, saying, "I can be your mom and a clan head, silly. My father was the clan head and passed the title onto me before he died."

"I didn't know that," Karasu said.

Mom shrugged. "I haven't been very active as the Clan Head."

"Will one of us become the Clan Head when we're older?" wondered Kurohyou.

Mom paused in thought and said, "There's a special law now called the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages Kekkei Genkai and Bloodline Protection Act. It's to protect kekkei genkai and bloodlines of certain clans. It basically says that when a shinobi or kunoichi has a baby, the clans that ninja belongs to can claim the child if their clan is important but low in numbers."

Karasu frowned. "Why'd did they make that law?"

Mom stared at them strangely for a moment before shrugging. "After the Fourth Shinobi World War, ninjas from other villages got married. The law gives preference for certain bloodlines over others so that one village won't be able to steal bloodlines from another. A lot of ninjas died during the war and many clans came close to extinction. This laws helps prevent them."

"The Uchiha clan is close to extinction," said Karasu. "Does that law mean that we're part of the Uchiha clan first and the Yamanaka clan second?"

Mom nodded. "Sort of."

"Can you teach us some of your Yamanaka clan jutsu, Mom?" Kawauso asked. "Please?"

Mom turned off the stove and sat down at the table with them. "I'll teach you guys how to perform the Shintenshin no Jutsu when you're a little older, but I can show you now what it's like having your mind leave your body."

"Cool!" Kawauso cheered.

She held out her hands and indicated that they should all grasp their hands together in a circle. Kurohyou gripped her right hand and Karasu took her left. Kawasuo took each other their hands. Once Mom was satisfied, she began channeling chakra. Kurohyou turned on his Sharingan and watched as the chakra pathways in her brain increased their flow of chakra. He'd never seen anything like it before.

"Now don't be scared, boys," she said. "Close your eyes and let your mind drift like you're meditating. You don't need to think about anything at all. When I pull your mind along with me, don't resist."

Kurohyou nodded and closed his eyes, letting his mind wander into a comfortable nothingness. He felt his mom's voice in his head and then when he opened his eyes he saw all of them standing together holding hands in a huge white expanse.

"Whoa," he said. "Where are we?"

"This is your mindscape, Kurohyou," Mom said. "We're going to move around through all your mindscapes and then to mine and then I'll return you to your bodies."

Kawuaso snickered next to him. "You're mind's completely empty, Kurohyou."

"I always knew it," Karasu quipped with a smirk.

Mom chuckled and said, "Let's check out your mindscapes then."

They held hands again and closed their eyes and then Kurohyou felt a weird sort of weightlessness like he was a balloon or a kite floating on a breeze high in the air. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in another white expanse.

"Where are we now?" wondered Kawauso.

"This is your mindscape," said Ino.

Kurohyou sneered, "What were you saying about being brainless, Kawauso?"

They closed their eyes and moved to Karasu's mindscape and were unsurprised to find that it was also a huge white expanse. Karasu turned to their mother and asked, "Why are our mindscapes so blank? Where are our thoughts and feelings and memories?"

His mom opened a door in the wall and they hadn't noticed at all. They peered into a strange dark room where a huge brain the size of the Hokage Building stood. Karasu blinked in surprise. "Is that my brain?"

"Weird," Kurohyou mumbled.

Their mother indicated the white expanse and said, "This is your mindscape and that is your brain. You can make your mindscape as simple or as complicated as you like. Most people's mindscapes are like this. Other people set up traps and mazes to make their mindscapes more difficult to navigate so their brains are better protected. Mindscapes are portals to enter someone's mind. There's usually a door like this one that leads to a person's brain where I can root around in your thoughts and memories."

"Weird," said Kurohyou.

"Can we see your mindscape, Mom?" asked Karasu.

"Take my hand and I'll take you boys there."

Kurohyou grabbed his mother's right hand again and Karasu gripped Mom's left hand. Kawauso held onto both their hands and they closed their eyes. Again it was the feeling of weightlessness.

When he opened his eyes, he gasped out in surprise. "But, but this is Konoha!"

"This is your mindscape, Mom?" wondered Kawauso.

"Amazing," Karasu breathed.

"I modeled it on Konoha," Mom said.

"How did you make it so cool?" Kurohyou wondered.

"Years of practice. I can show you guys when you're older. With a mindscape this complicated, it's almost impossible for someone to read or invade my mind without my permission."

Karasu wrapped his arms around Mom's waist and hugged her tightly. "You're amazing."

"Thanks," she grinned, running a hand through his hair.

"It's really quiet here," said Kurohyou. "Where is everyone?"

He took off down the street at a run, wanting to explore. Mom was always so secretive about everything. He wasn't surprised that her mind was a maze too. Maybe there would be memories about his dad.

Mom and the others ran behind him, calling for him to stop.

There was the Hokage Monument, but Mom's Monument Tower had Naruto-sama's face completed. There were several buildings he didn't recognize either. That was strange. He ran by Ichiraku and smiled at the poster of Naruto-sama over the wall near the menu. That was definitely in the one in Konoha. He skidded to a stop in front of the dango shop. There was a dark haired man sitting on the front counter with his back to them. He wore his hair in a low ponytail.

"Kurohyou, stop right now," Mom yelled as she finally caught up to him, pulling along Kawasuo and Karasu. "It's not safe to run around by yourself."

Karasu looked up at her curiously. "Why would your mind be dangerous?"

"Mom," Kurohyou pointed. "There's a man in the shop. Why is there a man in the shop?"

The man turned around and leaned back against the counter. He smiled at them with kind dark eyes. His dark bangs fell to his chin, framing his face. There were distinctive tear-troughs under his eyes.

"Don't go in there," Mom called. "Come back here. We're leaving."

Kurohyou glanced back at his mother, holding out her hand towards him pleadingly. She'd let go of Karasu's hand who wandered towards the door of the shop as well.

"Karasu, come back here," she said.

"Who are you?" Kurohyou asked the man at the dango shop. "What are you doing in my mother's mind?"

The man stood up from his stool. Karasu and Kawauso stood at Kurohyou's side. He hardly dared to breathe, worried that the figure would disappear. Could…could this man be his father?

Mom was suddenly grabbing their hands and then they were yanked off their feet and back at the table in the kitchen. Next to him Kawauso was looking around confused and Karasu's face betrayed a look of intense disappointment. Mom stumbled up from her chair and went to the stove to check on dinner.

Leaping up from his chair, Kurohyou ran over to his mom and pulled at the skirt of her dress. "Who was that man, Mom? Was that our father?"

Mom gripped the wooden spoon in white knuckles. "Your father is dead, Kurohyou."

* * *

**Interlude**

_She found them standing in front of the map of the Shinobi World in the ANBU Conference Room, pressing colored pins into certain minor villages. The two dark haired men stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the map discussing certain strategies and contingencies. They could have brothers if one only paid attention to the shallow similarities in their appearances: dark hair, intelligent dark eyes, tall, lithe and powerful from their ninja training. _

_Shikamaru held out the green pin in his hand and looked at the map of the world. "Tanigakure seems like as good a guess as any for the village targeting the Suna Bloodlines. But they've been a minor village for some time. I'm surprised that they'd through in their lot with ROOT."_

_"Sometimes people will make foolish decisions in their desperation to achieve power," Uchiha Itachi said._

_She crossed her legs and sat in the chair in the back of the room. If they had noticed her presence, they didn't comment on it. "Yugakure was a village that had been almost destroyed and then overtaken by ROOT. I thought that the ROOT army might be hiding in a place more like that."_

_Itachi ran a hand over the map. "There aren't many places like that in the world. Otogakure? Kagerou no Sato?"_

_"Uzushiogakure?" added Shikamaru._

_"Hm," Itachi mused, putting a blue push pin over the islands off the east coast of the Land of Fire. "That is interesting."_

_"Shikamaru, can I talk to you alone?" Ino finally called._

_Shikamaru and Itachi exchanged a glance. The Uchiha nodded to her and left the room. Shikamaru walked over to her and leaned on one of the conference room chairs. "What is it?"_

_She glanced up at him. "Are you up to date on what's going on outside of here?"_

_He rested his elbow on the back of the chair and propped his head up in his hand. "Maybe."_

_She crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that all I am now, a one night stand? I want to go Suna and shake you around a little bit."_

_He raised an eyebrow. "Your children were just kidnapped. You need to stay by their sides."_

_She looked down at her hands. "You're right."_

_"Write me a letter." _

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE THREE

INT. KONOHA, HOKAGE's OFFICE – AFTERNOON

Firuma marches Ino, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke into Tsunade's office. Tsunade's passed out at her desk. Shizune looks worried.

FIRUMA:

(indicates the group)

I've found the stars of the Makeout Tactics

movie!

SHIZUNE:

(groans)

INO:

(pales)

NARUTO:

(cheers)

This is awesome! I wasn't even old enough

to go to Makeout Paradise when it was in

theaters and now I'm staring in Makeout

Tactics!

SASUKE:

(pouts)

SHIKAMARU:

(glances at Shizune)

I thought that Makeout series was a porno.

Tsunade raises her head from the desk and looks blearily at the chunin assembled.

TSUNADE:

(putting her head back on the table)

Just go shoot your movie and let me sleep

off this hangover.

FIRUMA:

Let's make a movie!


	5. Chapter 55

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who answered the poll! I already have an idea of what pairings I want to use in the story, but I wanted to see what everyone was most interested in. It's not too late to vote! Go ahead if you haven't yet.**

**A special thanks to all my lovely reviewers: scarlet letters in the snow, ShikaIno1, sumtyms, sulli8989, Chobitsb1, Anne Marie Masen, and a couple guest reviews. You made my day!**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Five**

In chess the most unbelievable thing for me is that it's a game for everybody: rich, poor, girl, boy, old, young. It's a fantastic game which can unite people and generations! It's a language which you'll find people "speak" in every country. If you reach a certain level you find a very rich world! Art, sport, logic, psychology, a battlefield, imagination, creativity not only in practical games but don't forget either how amazing a feeling it is to compose a study, for example (unfortunately that's not appreciated these days but it's a fantastic part of chess!). - Judit Polgar

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

She tugged on the tight black pants and black tank top and buckled the silver flak jacket onto her chest. She was glad of the summons. It would take her mind off the startling revelations in the past couple days.

First her sons had discovered Itachi in her mindscape; she hadn't intended for that to happen. She should have asked Itachi to stay hidden while she was teaching them about her clan's jutsu. She wasn't ready to introduce her children to their father yet. She felt bad lying to her babies, but they weren't ready for the truth of their parents' relationship.

When she'd been stressing out about the extra chakra signatures and keeping her children away from Itachi's and Shikamaru's chakra, she noticed something alarming. There was another chakra signature inside of her. It was tiny, just a small little pinprick of chakra; it was hardly noticeable.

It was the chakra signature of the three week old fetus growing in her womb.

She was terrified and furious but also elated. Even if she'd lost Shikamaru forever, she would always have this piece of him. The thought of using this child to trap and tie Shikamaru to her had crossed her mind. But she couldn't do that to him. It would be cruel. He hated her for lying and manipulating her all those years ago. This wouldn't be any better.

She would write about the baby in her next letter to him.

As she worked on the arm guards, a man in a HAWK mask poked his head into her bedroom.

"Hurry up; we're going to be late," snapped HAWK.

She shrieked, "Get out of my room; I'm changing!"

"Then hurry up!" he snarled. "I'm the ANBU Vice-Commander; stop making me wait!"

She growled in annoyance before picking up the SWAN mask on her bed and tying it on over her long hair. She put her arms through the trench coat and tossed a scroll into her pocket. She was pulling the hood up over her head when she met HAWK in the hallway.

She put up a handsign for the body flicker jutsu and snapped, "If you ever poke your head into my room again while I'm changing I'll make sure that you won't be able to revive the Uchiha clan any further."

The man in the HAWK mask snorted. "You don't have anything I want to see. I can assure you that I'm happily married."

They shinshined over to the Hokage Building and walked inside and up the stairs to the secret door. Sasuke opened it and when they were safe inside the ANBU tower, Ino continued, "It mystifies me how a nice girl like Hinata ended up married to an asshole like you, Sasuke."

The HAWK masked ANBU shrugged before saying in an infuriating drawl, "She's an angel; I don't deserve her. I couldn't be happier now that she's finally going to give me a daughter with the Sharingan."

As they walked up the stairs, Ino hissed quietly, "You shouldn't be so obsessed with your children inheriting the Sharingan."

He stopped on the stone staircase, putting a hand out in front of Ino so she couldn't go any further. "My clan is almost extinct. There is nothing more important than my children inheriting the Sharingan. Itachi's children have all awoken their Sharingan and they're only four years old."

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Ino reminded him. "They almost died."

"All the same, Itachi did a better job of rebuilding the clan than I could probably ever do and he only did it on a _whim_, letting himself be seduced for a _week_."

Ino grabbed his shoulders and pushed him hard against the wall. "Letting himself be seduced? On a whim? How _dare_ you talk about me that way! Have you ever had to take a seduction mission, Sasuke? Did you have to give your virginity away to a complete stranger? Did you have to bear a complete stranger's three children? Did you have to lose everyone you loved because of it?"

"That's my brother you're talking about. You should be more respectful," Sasuke snapped.

She pushed him harder into the wall. "It was this sort of thinking that got me into that mess. Danzo was just as obsessed with the Sharingan as you seem to be."

"Danzo might have been an evil psychopath, but if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have the triplets," Sasuke noted quietly, "and the Sharingan would be well on its way to extinction. I haven't accomplished in five years what Itachi did in a week!"

She let out a snarl from behind her mask. She couldn't see his expression at all. It was infuriating. He was probably smirking happily. "I don't know how Hinata puts up with you at all. You're a misogynistic pig, Uchiha Sasuke. And how dare not mention _Hinata_ in any of this. She'd the one who's accomplished everything, not you! She's suffered all those miscarriages and stillbirths. She's given you two beautiful sons and she's about to give you a daughter! _You_ should be more respectful. _Who cares_ if your children do or don't have the Sharingan? I wish my sons didn't have the Sharingan."

He gripped her shoulders and pushed her hard, slamming her back into the opposite wall. Her silver flak jacket clinked against the stone discordantly and the breath was knocked out of her. Her feet dangled a couple inches off the ground; she kicked at his ankles and struggled against him.

"Never speak about Itachi's children that way ever again," he said in a dangerous whisper.

"Everything alright here folks?" asked Naruto, running out into the hall. He put a hand on each other their shoulders, pulling them away from each other. He gripped Ino's shoulder tightly, putting her back on the stair so she didn't pitch down the stairs. She gripped onto his arm, breathing heavily. A tumble down the stairs wouldn't have been good for Shikamaru's baby.

Sasuke shrugged off Naruto's hand and stormed into the office. Ino took off her SWAN mask. Her eyes were hard with fury when she said, "Just needed to remind Uchiha Sasuke that he's an asshole."

Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her upstairs with him. Laughing, he said, "That's good. We can't have the bastard getting too big a head! I'm glad I don't have to do it all on my own."

She sighed, wrapping a hand around Naruto's waist. "How do you put up with him?"

"I'm a masochist," said the Hokage. "Probably left over from when I was a jinchuriki."

Ino quirked a smile. "Thanks, Naruto."

"Anytime."

As they walked into the ANBU Commander's office, Ino said, "I took the boys to the park the other day and Masato's gotten really good at tree walking."

Naruto puffed up proudly, announcing, "That's because he takes after his old dad."

Ino giggled as they walked into Yamato's office. "I think it's because he takes after his mom. Reiko-chan on the other hand seems to take after you more even though she's the spitting imagine of Sakura."

"She's a cutie alright," said Naruto, "my little bubblegum pink terrible toddler."

Yamato and Kakashi looked up when the two blonde ninjas walked in. Kakashi continued the conversation where he'd left off, "Katsumi did the first draft for me. I had to make some tweaks before I sent it off."

Yamato rolled his eyes. "I thought it was bad enough that you had all your students and friends doing your work while you were Hokage. Now you're having your two year old daughter doing your work as a member of the Konoha council."

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm just being a supportive father."

Sasuke cleared his throat, taking off his mask. "Can we talk about the mission?"

"Er, right," said Kakashi. He cleared his throat and said, "The village of Tanigakure in the Land of Rivers is growing in importance. We believe that there's a chance they might be stealing bloodlines from Suna; they would be well placed for such a mission. They've recently appointed a Tanikage, who possesses the same kekkei genkai as the Third Kazekage. We're sending an ambassador from the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages to welcome this new leader."

"To spy on them, you mean," said Ino.

"That too," nodded Yamato.

"And when you return, you'll be reinstated as a Konoha kunoichi officially and at the rank of jonin," said Naruto. "I promise."

Ino shook her head. "You can't ask me to go. I'm not technically a kunoichi of Konoha anymore. Besides, I have my sons to think of. They almost died. How can I leave them here unprotected and while I go on a dangerous mission?"

"We'll look after them while you're gone," said Naruto. "Sasuke's volunteered to have them stay with him and his family. We'll make sure that your sons are safe, Ino, you can count on us."

"Absolutely not," said Ino. "Not Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to Ino with a slight smirk. "Your sons just awoke their Sharingans and would be in danger if they overused them. I can teach them how to control them. Besides it'll be good for the triplets and the twins to get to know one another better, they're cousins after all."

Ino looked at the others. "Why can't the kids stay with one of you?"

"We thought this would be the best for them," Naruto said. "You wouldn't need to worry."

"I don't like this one bit," said Ino. "Infiltration and Espionage is dangerous. And I doubt that I would be believable as the ambassador. I'm not technically a ninja of Konoha anymore."

"You won't be going as that Ambassador. You'll be undercover in Tanigakure," said Kakashi. "The Ambassador from the Allied Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages will be the mission captain and offer tactical and strategic support during the mission."

"Some stranger from another country that I don't know and can't trust, excellent," Ino snorted.

"No, it's someone you know very well," said Kakashi. "Nara Shikamaru is being appointed as the official ambassador. He should arrive a couple weeks after you do."

Her eyes flashed when she heard the name. "Shikamaru will be there?"

Yamato nodded. "This is perhaps our best opportunity to gain intel about ROOT. You know as well as I do how many trails have gone cold. You and Shikamaru might give us the first real break in the case. No one in Konoha or the other villages is more skilled at espionage and intelligence gathering than you and Shikamaru."

Ino took a deep breath and said, "Fine, I'll do it."

Yamato smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

**Interlude**

_The boys were all pulling at each other to try on Naruto's Hokage hat. Ino laughed hysterically, snapping pictures. Masato was protesting that because it was his dad's hat, he had precedence. They were all gathered in the Hokage office waiting for the festivities to start in the next couple of hours. Naruto had practiced his speech with her last night. Everything was going to be perfect._

_Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. His large hand rested on her belly. He whispered in her ear. "I love you so much, Sakura."_

_She turned around his arms, and he pulled her closer against him. Wrapping her arms around him, she kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I love you too, _Hokage-sama_."_

_His bright blue eyes twinkled. Swaying with her in his arms, he whispered, "I quite like the sound of that."_

_She claimed his lips again, mumbling, "Me too."_

_"Eeeew!" yelled their son. _

_Naruto puffed up and clutched his wife closer to him announced. "My first act as Hokage will be to decree that I will kiss my beautiful wife anytime I want! And you can't stop me, Masato!"_

_"Gross!" Masato protested. "Stop!"_

_Reiko giggled in her grandmother's arms. Haruno Mebuki remarked, "He is the Hokage, Masato, so we can't stop him."_

_"Granny!" the blonde boy protested._

_Kakashi watched bemusedly as Katsumi pulled his Hokage hat off his head and toddled over to the four year old boys to play. Anko sat down heavily next to him, a hand on her very pregnant stomach._

_"Is this the happiest day of your life, Kakashi?" she wondered with a wry smile._

_Kakashi seemed to catch the inherent trap and kissed his wife on the forehead and said, "The happiest day of my life is when you agreed to marry me."_

_"Only because you knocked me up, you bastard," Anko said. "Why can't you have the kids and I'll just hang around for the ride like you do?"_

_"We can try that next time," Kakashi said. Looking over at Sakura and Naruto, he called, "Naruto, have I ever told you about my theory about the baby booms around the election of new Hokages? It's a remarkable phenomenon."_

_"Not this again," Anko mumbled, putting a hand to her belly. "There is no such as a Post-Hokage Election Baby Boom. It's a Post-War Baby Boom."_

_"It's a fact that there was a Baby Boom after Sarutobi Hiruzen's election, Namikaze Minato's election, and my election," Kakashi countered._

_Anko snorted, "Those elections were after the Second, Third, and Fourth Shinobi World Wars."_

_Ino pointed out, "The Baby Boom after your election was caused in part by the ROOT incident and all the unplanned pregnancies that arose after the war when ninjas were checking into the love motels before checking into their Shinobi Divisions."_

_"Post-War Baby Boom," Anko agreed._

_Kakashi shrugged and said, "The war was five years ago and now we're having another Baby Boom around the time of Naruto's election. Tons of ninjas are expecting rug rats: Anko and I, Yamato and Chika, Sasuke and Hinata, Choji and Sumire just had their baby…"_

_Sakura nodded to Naruto and he put a hand on her belly. "You'll have to add another one to the list, Kakashi. Sakura and I are expecting a baby too."_

* * *

**Uzumaki Naruto**

Naruto sighed and sank into the chair next to Yamato. "I don't like this, Kakashi. Espionage and infiltration are risky. The longer a person has to be undercover the more dangerous it becomes."

"Ino and Shikamaru are infiltration and intelligence experts. They'll be fine," said Kakashi. "Besides, we've been waiting almost five years to have Shikamaru as part of the government for the Five Great Allied Shinobi villages. I'm sure if he's there for five minutes he'll figure out what ROOT's plans are."

"And you called Utatane Koharu an unrepentant matchmaker," laughed Yamato. "You're just as bad."

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE FOUR

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, MAIN STAGE – MORNING - ESTABLISHING

MONTAGE:

1.) A man opens up the large metal doors to the main stage; a cart drives inside with the writers chatting amongst themselves.

2.) The camera man flirts with the makeup artist as he pours them both a cup of coffee at the table of refreshments set up on the side of the room.

3.) A woman wheels in a large rack of costumes into the mainstage, waving at the makeup artist as she pushes it by the table.

4.) The lead actor and actress are sitting in their chairs reviewing the latest versions of their scripts.

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, DIRECTOR'S OFFICE – AFTERNOON

The office's tall white walls are broken up every couple feet by large color movie posters. There's a glass case against the back wall behind the desk filled to the brim with awards.

Firuma sits behind his desk with Eguzekutibu, the executive producer. Ino, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto sit on the other side of the table.

The ninjas are wearing their Konoha fatigues and flak jackets. The movie director has changed into a new button down; however, this button down has mustard smeared down the front from lunch.

Firuma hands the ninjas their contracts.

INO:

(clears throat)

I think there's been a mistake.

NARUTO:

(cheers)

I'm staring in a porno! Take that

Konohamaru! Who's going to be Hokage now?

SASUKE:

(frowns)

SHIKAMARU:

(scowls at the contract)

Tch. Troublesome.

EQUZEKUTIBU:

(looking at the chunin)

I thought you said you got two girls and two

boys. There are three boys.

FIRUMA:

(nods to Naruto)

Show him kid.

Naruto moves his hands to form a handsign. There's a huge puff of smoke and a naked girl sits in his place.

EQUZEKUTIBU:

(claps)

You're perfect. Let's see the other girl

too. They all know that it's full nudity

right?

Ino pales and wrings her hands in her lap. FIRUMA nods at her. Ino shakes her head furiously at him.

INO:

No way. Why don't YOU strip!

FIRUMA:

(shrugs)

I can if that'll make you feel more

comfortable.

FIRUMA stands up and begins to unbutton his shirt.

NARUTO:

(screams in horror)

Anything but that!

SASUKE:

(blinks)

INO:

(shrieks)

Have mercy!

SHIKAMARU:

(hollers)

Ino, do something!

Ino leaps up from her chair and takes off her clothes. Never has anyone stripped their clothes off as fast.

FIRUMA winks at Eguzekutibu conspiratorially.

EQUZEKUTIBU:

(nods in approval)

INO:

(blushes madly)

Somehow I think you tricked me into taking

off my clothes.

FIRUMA:

(looks innocent)

Who me?

Ino glances over at Shikamaru for him to confirm or deny her suspicions. He's staring at her wide eyed. He pushes his contract into his lap to hide how his pants are tenting. Ino doesn't notice.

INO:

What do you think, Shikamaru?

SHIKAMARU:

(groans)

Whatever you want me to, Ino.

INO:

(blinks)

What's that supposed to mean?

NARUTO:

(elbows Shikamaru in the side)

Your teammate's really hot, Shikamaru.

Must be HARD to deal with that on a regular

basis.

SHIKAMARU:

Shut up, Naruto.

INO:

(to Firuma)

Can I put my clothes back on?

NARUTO:

(shakes his head)

Absolutely not.

SHIKAMARU:

(nods)

Yeah, you probably shouldn't.

FIRUMA:

(shrugs)

Of course.

Ino puts back on her clothes quickly, glaring at the boys. Naruto and Shikamaru glare at Firuma.


	6. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Six**

The laws of chess do not permit a free choice: you have to move whether you like it or not. - Emanuel Lasker

* * *

**Interlude**

_She could see him. She could see him a couple rows in front of her. Her heart beat faster in her chest. She hadn't seen a hair of him in five years and now he was so close. She could walk over and wrap her arms around him. They'd been separated for so many years but the mere sight of his spiked ponytail made her heart fly into her throat and butterflies flutter furiously in her belly. She wanted to talk to him so badly. _

_Had he read her letters? _

_He never replied to them, but maybe he read them._

_He stood together with Choji, Choza, Sumire, and Yoshino. Choji's wife, Sumire, was holding little Choukichi in her arms. The baby was only a month old, but he had a tuft of red hair and chubby little cheeks and legs. _

_Shikamaru's arm was around his mother as they both gazed upward at the balcony of the Hokage Building. She felt such a longing to be there with them. Shikamaru should have been standing there with his arms around her and Yoshino. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling lonely for him. _

_Naruto and Kakashi walked out on a balcony coming out from the Hokage Building. Konoha was beautiful today for the Inauguration. People cheered and threw confetti around them. Naruto had chosen May 1__st__ as the day for his Inauguration. It was International Shinobi Day when Konoha was open to Kuma, Kiri, Suna, and Iwa for parades and parties._

_Next to her, Chika's daughter Takara was whining to her mother. "I can't see anything, Mommy! Where's Daddy and Kaede? Do you see them?"_

_Chika reached down and lifted her daughter into the air. Takara gripped her mother around the shoulders as she craned her eyes searching for her father among the group on the balcony. Her brown eyes shone with excitement. _

_"Do you see them?" Chika asked. "They're standing behind Kakashi and Naruto."_

_"I see them!" Takara grinned._

_Karasu pulled at her dress. "Mom, I can't see anything. Can you lift me up too?"_

_She glanced down at her son with grin. "Sure, sweetheart."_

_She lifted Karasu into her arms. The boy wrapped his arms around her shoulders and wrapped his legs around her waist to steady himself. "I can see them!" Karasu cheered. _

_Kawauso was sitting on Suigetsu's shoulders. The white haired shinobi had a hand steading the boy on his shoulders and the other around Karin. Ino looked around for Kurohyou._

_"Where's Kurohyou?" Ino wondered. _

_Karasu turned to her. His dark glowed with excitement. Kami, he looked so much like Itachi sometimes it was scary. "He said that was going to stand with Uncle Sasuke."_

_"Uncle Sasuke?" Karin wondered. "Why would he do that?"_

_Karasu shrugged, snuggling in closer to her, rubbing his cheek against hers. "He saw him a couple rows back in the crowd and wanted to talk to him. I couldn't see him, but Kurohyou did."_

_A chill ran down Ino's spine. "Karasu, your Uncle Sasuke is on the balcony with Naruto-sama. He'd not in the crowd."_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

She stood in her bedroom. The sealing scroll was open on her bed. She'd finished packing her clothes and reading the mission parameters. She was nervous about the mission, she was nervous about this baby, and she was nervous about leaving the triplets with Sasuke.

They would eventually find out the truth about the Uchiha Massacre and Itachi's involvement with the Akatsuki and Battle Royale with Sasuke, but she could protect them from that for the time being. Sasuke didn't see the point in keeping the information from the triplets. Sasuke said that he'd learned about all of those things when he was a child and had turned out fine.

Ino's blood turned to ice at the thought. She would protect her children from the truth at all costs. She didn't want then to turn out as messed up as Sasuke!

She'd ordered him to not reveal anything to the triplets without her express permission. But now they were going to be staying at his house! She prayed that Sasuke wouldn't mess up her sons too badly, she didn't believe in mindwiping people she loved, but she'd do it for the sake of their sanity. Hopefully she'd discover ROOT's motives soon so she could return home to her babies quick fast.

She would tell them the truth someday, but they weren't old enough to handle it yet.

The triplets thought that Ino and Itachi were in love for years and were happily married and then their father had died heroically in the Fourth Shinobi World War. That was the story she fed them, not that she'd only known Itachi for seven days and that she'd been coerced by an evil man to seduce Itachi and bear his children to be mindless drones for an evil organization.

It was the sort of thing that would give them nightmares.

Hell, it still gave her nightmares.

She glanced up as the triplets barged into her room. Kurohyou ran up to her and threw his arms around her waist. "Mom!" Kurohyou protested. "I didn't mean it. I'm not embarrassed that you just run the flower shop. Please don't become a ninja again!"

Ino hid her smile at his words. Karasu's dark eyes were frightened and Kawauso was trying not to cry. She smiled softly at them. She sat down on the bed and pulled Kurohyou into her lap. "Come here, you troublemakers."

Karasu and Kawauso ran over and jumped on the bed. Karasu hugged her tightly around the waist and she wrapped an arm around Kawauso, who leaned against her shoulder. "I'm sorry to worry you, but I promise that nothing bad will happen."

Karasu sniffed, "that's what Uncle Choji said."

She wiped the tears from his face. "You three will be safe here. Uncle Sasuke and Aunt Hinata are going to take good care of you. And you'll get to play with your cousins, Hiromitsu and Hiroaki. It's going to be great."

Kawauso pouted. "Why doesn't Uncle Sasuke just go on the mission and you say here with us. This whole thing is silly. I'm going to tell Hokage-sama to reassign the mission."

Ino laughed out loud. "Everything's going to be fine. I'll be back soon and in the meantime, Uncle Sasuke, Aunt Hinata, Uncle Naruto, Aunt Sakura, Uncle Yamato, Aunt Chika, Uncle Kakashi, and Aunt Anko will protect you."

"But who's going to protect you, mommy?" asked Karasu. "You're going to be all by yourself on a dangerous mission! You're not a ninja! You're a mom!"

Ino laughed. "I am a ninja, silly," she said tapping him on the nose. "I just retired from active duty when you were born because I loved you so much that I wanted to spend all my time with you."

Kurohyou rested his head back against her chest, pouting. "It's just not right if you ask me. Karasu and Kawauso are right. You're our mom now, not a ninja anymore. We'll have Naruto-sama reassign the mission."

Ino laughed. "I can be your mom and a ninja. And I won't be all by myself. My old teammate Nara Shikamaru will be there to protect me."

Kawauso scratched his head. "Nara Shikamaru?"

Ino nodded. "He's my old teammate from my genin squad."

Karasu frowned at her. "Isn't he the dark haired man in all those pictures?"

Ino glanced around her bedroom. She kept all the pictures of Shikamaru in her bedroom. She didn't want to upset and confuse the triplets about Shikamaru – the man she loved who wasn't their father.

"Mom?" asked Karasu.

Ino stood up from the bed. "I think Sasuke and Hinata are almost here. I can feel their chakra outside. Come on, let's grab your bags and go say hi to them."

* * *

**Interlude**

_The blonde haired kunoichi pushed through the crowd, shrieking out her son's name. "Kurohyou! Kurohyou!"_

_Karin couldn't hear Naruto's or Kakashi's speeches at all. Around them the ninjas and civilians and were groaning in annoyance. "Keep it down," yelled one civilian. "We can't hear the Hokages' speeches!"_

_Ino gripped the man's shoulder. "Have you seen my son? He's four year old: black hair, black eyes? His name is Uchiha Kurohyou."_

_The man shook her off. "No I haven't. Keep it down, you tramp, you're causing a scene. Why should we care? Those children of yours are abominations just like their father."_

_Karasu hung onto his mother tightly, yelling his brother's name. "Kurohyou, where are you? Kurohyou!"_

_Chika, Karin, and Suigetsu followed the frantic blonde woman, yelling for Kurohyou. _

_Takara hid her face in her mother's shoulder, crying. Kawauso pulled Suigetsu's hair as he screamed out his brother's name. "Kurohyou! Kurohyou!"_

_Choji and Choza pushed through the crowd with Sumire, Yoshino, and Shikamaru trailing behind them. Choji grabbed Ino's arm as she screamed herself hoarse._

_"Ino, what's wrong?"_

_Ino let out a sob, yelling. "He's gone. Someone's taken Kurohyou!"_

_Karin gripped her arm. "I don't feel his chakra in the crowd, Ino. He's…he's moving towards the village gates with several other chakra signatures. There are six of them in total, four jonin and two chunin I'd say by the chakra levels. They're moving quickly away from the village and in a westward direction."_

_"Oh, Kami," Ino moaned. "What am I going to do? It's the middle of Naruto's Inauguration. We'll never get a team assembled in time." _

_"Mom," Karasu whined in her arms. "What's happening?"_

_"The perfect distraction," Chika agreed._

_Ino gripped Karasu tighter. Turning to Chika and Karin, she said, "I—I don't know what to do."_

_Karin put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll send a group after them and another group to protect the children in a safe place."_

_Yoshino held out her arms, "I'll take Takara. You should go after Kurohyou, Chika."_

_Chika passed her daughter to Yoshino._

_Yoshino turned to the others. "Choji, Sumire, and I will watch Karasu, Kawauso, and Takara. Ino, Karin, Suigetsu, Chika, Choza, and Shikamaru will go after the kidnappers. Six against six."_

_Shikamaru cleared his throat. "We should have someone go to warn the others so they can send reinforcements. I can do that." _

_Choji took Karasu and Kawauso in his arms. He smiled kindly at the boys. "Everything's going to be alright. I promise that nothing bad will happen. Uncle Choji and Aunt Sumire and Granny Yoshino are going to take good care of you."_

_Yoshino put a hand on her son's shoulder. "Choza can warn Yamato, Naruto, and the others. You should go with Ino's group."_

_Shikamaru glanced at his mother. Karin couldn't read his expression at all. "Alright," he said._

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE FIVE

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, MAIN STAGE – MORNING

Firuma leads the group of Konoha ninjas inside the set

FIRUMA:

Here's the main stage. This is where most

of our shots will be done. We have several

smaller stages for some of the more intimate

shots.

ISHOU, the costume director, wheels the rack of costumes past them.

FIRUMA:

(indicating ISHOU)

This is the lovely ISHOU who does our

costumes. You'll be seeing her later this

week for costume fittings.

ISHOU:

(nodding)

It's a pleasure to meet all of you.

Firuma leads them towards the other two actors who are sitting getting their makeup touched up. YAKUSHA is a handsome man in his thirties with curly black hair that falls into his eyes. His bright blue eyes take in Ino with interest.

JOYUU is a beautiful woman in her mid to late twenties with straight dark hair and full lips.

YAKUSHA:

(raises his eyebrows)

Are you the actors they were talking about?

JOYUU:

(sneers)

The shinobi?

INO:

(sneers back)

And kunoichi

NARUTO:

(cheers)

Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!

SASUKE:

(huffs)

SHIKAMARU:

(scowls)

Joyuu slips out of her chair and sidles up to Shikamaru.

JOYUU:

(flips hair over her shoulder)

Aren't we handsome? I hope that I get to do

you - I mean do a scene with you.

INO:

(scowls at the other woman)

You're not really very good with double

entendre are you?

SHIKAMARU:

(raises eyebrow)

I think that was supposed to be a Freudian

slip.

YAKUSHA:

(smirks)

I think I've got one with blondie. I'll

definitely be looking forward to it.

INO:

(pales)


	7. Chapter 57

**A/N: I decided to move the introduction with the Family Trees to the bottom of the first chapter, so all subsequent chapters have shifted up. I did this before posting chapter 6, that's why there were two submissions of it.**

**We're getting close to seeing Shikamaru again! We'll see him in the present in chapter 59 and his POV chapter is chapter 60.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Seven**

Like Dvoretsky, I think that (all other things being equal), the analytical method of studying chess must give you a colossal advantage over the chess pragmatist, and that there can be no certainty in chess without analysis. I personally acquired these views from my sessions with Mikhail Botvinnik, and they laid the foundations of my chess-playing life. - Garry Kasparov

* * *

**Uchiha Sasuke**

Suigetsu picked up Hiromitsu. Hiroaki pulled at Sasuke's hair, asking excitedly, "When are we going to see Karasu, Kawauso, and Kurohyou!?"

Sasuke winced in pain, gently removing his son's hands. "You're going to see a lot of them. They're going to be staying with us while their mom's on a mission."

Hiromitsu was slapping Suigetsu across the face continuously and then giggling uncontrollably as Suigetsu turned his head into water to avoid the slaps.

"I wanna try! I wanna try!" Hiroaki yelled, pulling at Sasuke's hair again.

Sasuke scowled at him. "Stop that."

Hiroaki scowled back. It was amusingly like looking in a mirror. "You're no fun, daddy," his son protested. "Uncle Suigetsu is fun."

Hinata put a hand to her mouth to cover her giggles. Her other hand rested on her very pregnant belly. He grinned at his beautiful wife and gave her a little wink. Turning to his son, he said, "No fun, eh?"

Hiroaki giggled as he flew up into the air, was caught, and then tossed up again. Hiromitsu stopped slapping Suigetsu. He quickly decided that playing with his father was a better prospect than abusing his uncle.

"Daddy, Daddy!" Hiromitsu cried. "Throw me too!"

Luckily any further argument was broken up as they reached Yamanaka flowers. Sasuke opened the door and ushered the group inside. Ino and the kids were still upstairs. He could hear the voice of one of the triplets yelling something from the apartment on the second floor. It was probably Kurohyou; he was the boisterous one.

Contrary to what everyone said about him being a douche or a Sharingan-obsessed whack job, he really did love his family. Hinata was his serenity, his paradise. He thanked the universe every day that she'd been brought into his life. Her love had brought him peace. It was just what he needed after all the toil, heartbreak, and chaos that his life had been when he was younger.

He had been disappointed that the twins hadn't been born with full Sharingans as Itachi's sons had. They could probably never be as strong as the triplets, but there was always the hope that the Sharingan would manifest in some manner or other when they were older. His daughter would be born very soon. She was a second chance at reviving the clan. Besides, he and Hinata could have more children.

The triplets were an amazing mystery to him. Whenever he saw Karasu, he felt like he'd been falcon punched in the stomach and handed a million ryo at the same time. It was astounding; Karasu _was_ Itachi. Sasuke had never believed in reincarnation before, but he was starting to.

After losing his mother, his father, his clan, and his brother, it was a miracle to discover that Itachi had left a legacy, a triparte legacy. The three boys were Uchiha to the core. He'd only ever been allowed fleeting moments with them, but now he and Hinata would be their parents for the next one or two months – however long it took Ino to complete her mission.

They walked up the stairs and Karasu was there at the door to let them in. Sasuke looked down at his nephew with concern. "Karasu, you're not supposed to open the door for strangers. What if we were using a Transformation jutsu?"

Karasu shrugged. "Mom said that she could sense your chakra. I recognized it too."

Sasuke put down Hiroaki, who ran up to Karasu and hugged him around the waist. Sasuke grinned. He had a funny sense of deja vous at the sight. How often had that same been acted out by Itachi and himself when they were children?

It was truly remarkable how much Karasu looked like Itachi and also how much Hiroaki and his identical twin Hiromitsu looked like Sasuke. There were certainly traces of Hinata in them in their eyes, their indigo hair, their cheekbones, and their hands, but the twins inherited the shape of his eyes, nose, and mouth.

"You could sense our chakra?" wondered Sasuke. "Maybe you're a sensory type ninja like your mom and your Auntie Karin. I think your father might have been a sensory type ninja as well."

"Really?" wondered Karasu.

Sasuke nodded. The group glanced up to the door to one of the bedrooms where Ino emerged with Kawauso and Kurohyou. She carried one backpack and was helping Kawauso put his on. Kurohyou wore his, but his arms were crossed over his chest and he looked murderous.

Kawauso walked over to Karasu and Hiroaki, grinning at his younger cousin. Hiroaki jumped from Karasu to Kawauso. Hiromitsu wriggled in Suigetsu's arms, wanting to play with his cousins too.

Kurohyou pointed a finger at Sasuke accusingly. "Why is my mom going a mission? You should go instead. Go to Naruto-sama and make him change his mind."

Ino rolled her eyes at her son, "Kurohyou, we've already discussed this. Don't give your Uncle a hard time."

Kurohyou was unconvinced. "I'm not leaving my house. I refuse. Mom is not going that mission and that's final."

Ino strode past her wayward son and handed Hinata the backpack in her hands. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "Kurohyou's throwing a tantrum. I'm sure that when he gets back to your house, he'll forget with all the fun he's having."

His eyes flickered to where Ino and Hinata stood. They were like the sun and the moon: Ino with her brash blonde hair and bright blue eyes and Hinata with her flowing indigo hair and her calm silver eyes. Their temperaments couldn't be more different. Ino was brash and loud and stubborn and annoying, but also charismatic and bright and clever. Hinata was calm and controlled and peaceful and loving and serene, but also brave and smart and capable. Ino was tall and lithe where Hinata was petite and wonderfully curvaceous.

It seemed that Itachi favored the goddess Amaterasu while he favored the goddess Tsukuyomi.

Kurohyou stomped over to them. "I'm not going."

Ino rubbed a hand over her eyes. "Sweetheart, don't make me use jutsu on you. I don't want to do that. But I will if I have to."

Kurohyou crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll just have Kawauso or Karasu disrupt my chakra if you cast a genjutsu on me."

Karasu waved his arms in front of him. "Don't drag me into this."

Kurohyou stared his triplet down. "Kawauso?"

Kawauso looked at his mother. "I'll disrupt his chakra if you cast a genjutsu on him, mom."

Ino merely rolled her eyes.

Sasuke walked over and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Your mother is best suited for this mission, Kurohyou. She'll be fine. You'll see. Come on, Aunt Hinata wants to take everyone out for dango this afternoon."

"Dango?" wondered Kurohyou as his priorities began to shift. "I guess that would be acceptable."

Ino knelt down in front of her sons and gave each a kiss on the forehead before they headed out the door and down the stairs with Sasuke and his family.

* * *

**Interlude**

_Shikamaru stared down at his mother in surprise. Choza had run off towards the Hokage Tower and the group had already headed over towards the village gates. Karin led the way, tracking Kurohyou's chakra._

_Choji shifted Karasu and Kawauso in his arms. Takara gripped Yoshino around the neck tightly. The little girl's dark eyes were scared. Yoshino smiled at him. "Go with Ino. She needs you now, Shikamaru."_

_"Mom, I…"_

_His mother shifted Yamato and Chika's daughter in her arms. Karasu and Kawauso watched the exchange curiously. "You can hide it from the others, but I know you love her. Go help her save her son."_

_Shikamaru gripped his mother's shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Why did I have to fall in love with such a troublesome woman, mom?"_

_Yoshino grinned. "Because she reminds you of your mother, of course."_

_He snorted but smiled at her. "We'll be back soon. Be safe, mom." Turning to Choji and Sumire, he said, "Be safe, you two."_

_Choji nodded at him and said, "We will."_

_As he hurried after the others, he heard one of Ino's sons ask, "Uncle Choji, who was that man? Is he…"_

_"That's your mother's teammate Nara Shikamaru."_

_"Oh," said Karasu disappointedly. "He's not our father then?"_

_"No," said Choji. "You father is Uchiha Itachi."_

_"Karasu, he's the man in all those pictures in mom's room," said one of Ino's sons._

_"I know," answered Kawauso._

* * *

**Uzumaki Karin**

Suigetsu was just on his way out the door when she opened it. He dodged the bag she threw at him and pulled her into his arms for a sloppy kiss.

"Ew, stop," Karin whined. "Why are you all wet?"

The white haired shinobi looked down at his shirt. "Oh, my genin squad was practicing water transformation jutsu this afternoon. I had to stop by home to pick up something for them. We're starting kenjutsu today."

The front of Karin's gray button down shirt was becoming soaked through. "Well change before you leave the house!"

"It's going to get wet again anyway," he shrugged.

She rolled her eyes at him before putting a hand to his cheek and kissing her husband thoroughly. "Doesn't mean you can't at least give yourself a fighting chance."

He pulled her into his arms and closed the door to their house, kissing her again. "How was your mission? How's your scary teammate in T&I?"

"Oh, Ibiki's a teddy bear," Karin shrugged.

Suigetsu nipped her neck with his sharpened teeth. "If you say so."

Nibbling his ear in her teeth, she mused, "I learned something interesting on my mission."

Unbuttoning her blouse, he asked, "What's that?"

She pulled his head away from her collarbone where he was laying kisses and little bites. "Suigetsu, we were investigating Orochimaru's lab for any ties to ROOT."

His eyes widened. "Jeez, better you than me. That place's creepy; anything about that guy's creepy. I'm still convinced that Sasuke's going to raise him from the dead again just to mess with me."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Sasuke has made some stupid decisions – granted – but I doubt he'd do that again."

Suigetsu shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

Raising her eyes, she shrugged as well. He had a point. "Well I was reading through some of Orochimaru's files. You know how he experimented on us?"

Suigetsu stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Is this relive Suiegetsu's worst memories day or something? Did I miss the memo?"

"No, that's Thursday."

"I'll be conspicuously absent then."

"Very sporting."

"Yep."

Karin rolled her eyes and continued, "Well when Orochimaru harvested our DNA, he used it in experiments. He created children with our sperm and ovum and implanted in some of his female experiments."

Suigetsu's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"We have a daughter, Suigetsu. I read about it in Orochimaru's files."

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE SIX

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, DIRECTOR'S OFFICE – AFTERNOON

Sakko, the head writer, gnaws on the end of his pen as Firuma crosses out some of the lines of the script, shaking his head. Sakko is a man in his mid-forties with bright red hair and a large bald spot at the top of his head that he tries to hide by combing his hair back.

The director puts the pen down and pushes the script away for a moment. Swiveling around in his chair, Firuma glances backward at the movie poster of A Beautiful Genjutsu hanging on the wall behind his desk.

FIRUMA:

(sighs)

Why can't we seem to get the script right?

What are we missing, Sakko?

SAKKO:

Jiraiya was a genius at prose, but it

doesn't translate well to the screenplay.

FIRUMA:

(rubs his eyes)

We'll figure it out.

SAKKO:

Frankly I was surprised that a director of

your caliber wanted to direct a film like

makeout tactics.

Firuma looks up as Shikamaru walks in with the script in his hand. He tosses it on the table.

SHIKAMARU:

This is all wrong.

SAKKO:

What do you mean?

Shikamaru flips open the script to a page. There's a tremendous amount of red ink on the page as scenes were revised and rewritten.

SHIKAMARU:

Ino's sex scenes with Sasuke's character and

Yakusha's character don't move the plot

along. They clash with the thematic

elements that you're trying to achieve.

Those scenes on pages 35 and 79 should be

with my character instead.

FIRUMA:

(scratches his head)

Do you think so?

SHIKAMARU:

(nods)

Absolutely.

Sakko pulls Shikamaru's script back towards himself and skims the page Shikamaru had flipped it open to.

SAKKO:

Wow. This is brilliant. You're completely

right. This does work better.

Shikamaru pulls up a chair and waves a hand at Sakko for the script. Sakko hands it over and Shikamaru flips to the front.

SHIKAMARU:

I had a couple other changes to recommend.

Let's start on page 3.

INTERCUT WITH:

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, DIRECTOR'S OFFICE – DAY

Ino walks into Firuma's office and sits down across from him.

INO:

(shyly)

Firuma-san?

FIRUMA:

Yes, Ino?

INO:

(blushes)

I wanted to talk to you about my character's

sex scenes with Yakusha.

FIRUMA:

What about them?

INO:

(frowns)

I'm not really comfortable with…

Firuma waves his hand and interrupts Ino.

FIRUMA:

We're going to be changing those scenes.

Those scenes will be with Shikamaru's

character instead. It'll work better with

the thematic elements I'm hoping to achieve.

INO:

(blushes)

Really? That's great.


	8. Chapter 58

**A/N: A special thank you to my lovely betas scarlet letters in the snow and ShikaIno1! You guys are the best!**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty-Eight**

The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature, and the player on the other side is hidden from us. - Thomas Huxley

* * *

**Interlude**

_She rested her head in her hands and stared in shock at the ground. Her eyes felt itchy and dry from crying so much. She rubbed her eyes. How had it gone so wrong? Yoshino was dead. Choji and his wife Sumire were both dead. They were only protecting her sons, Kawauso and Kurohyou. Was their death her fault?_

_How could they have awakened their Sharingan? How was it even possible? The three of them were so young. They'd paid the price for it. All three were in critical condition from chakra overexertion and Sharingan use. Shizune had said…no she wouldn't think about it._

_A shadow fell of her and she looked up at the familiar face of her last remaining teammate. "Shikamaru," she breathed in relief._

_He crossed his arms over his chest. "Ino."_

_She stood up from the bench and hugged him tightly around the waist before he could protest. She buried her head in his chest, taking comfort in the feeling of his warm body against hers. He had grown taller and broader in the five years they'd been apart, but he still had the same wonderful scent of pine needles and smoke about him. _

_"I'm so sorry about your mother, Shikamaru. I didn't mean for this to happen and Choji and his wife…" she cried against his chest. She let out a gasping breath. There were no tears left._

_Choji. Loveable, dependable Choji. He was her rock, her teddy bear. He was gone too, leaving his infant son an orphan. Choza was going to care for his grandson. Thank Kami for Choza._

_Shikamaru's arm moved to his waist and he slowly pried her arms away, holding her at arms length. "I wanted to let you know that I'm going to Suna. I can't stay in the Land of Fire right now. There are too many bad memories."_

_Ino looked up to his face. His eyes were guarded. "Am I ever going to see you again?"_

_"I need to get away, Ino," he said looking resolutely at the wall. "At least for a little while." _

_Furrowing her brow, Ino asked, "What about Asuka? You promised Asuma that you'd be her sensei. What about Choukichi? He just lost both his parents. You wouldn't abandon Choji's son too?"_

_He looked pointedly at her. "I'd rather not stay here with… all that's happened. I need some time away."_

_"How much time?"_

_"I don't know."_

_Ino looked up at him. "I know that I don't have any right to say this to you, Shika, but I need to tell you again in case this is the last time I see you."_

_He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed in annoyance. "Troublesome."_

_"I love you. It's always been you. I know that you don't believe me with what I've done, but the whole time it was you. You were always first in my heart. I'll be yours in a heartbeat if you can ever forgive me for the wrong I did you."_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

Tulips exploded from the banks of the rivers and canals the Land of Rivers. She'd sailed up on a canal boat with a civilian husband and wife. They were a lovely couple in their sixties heading into town for the market. The front of the boat was filled with the pink, orange, yellow, and purple flowers.

She watched in wonder as they passed another windmill. The husband leaned against the side of the boat next to her and nodded at the building. "You look like you've never seen one."

She nodded and sat down next to him. "Why are they so many, Uncle Kazaguruma? Are they milling flour?"

His wife sat down next to her and handed Ino a bouquet of tulips. "These are smock mills, they're for drainage. The southern tip of Land of Rivers here is below sea level. We've had to reclaim the land to build on. The windmills pull the water from the soil."

"Amazing," Ino breathed.

"Thank you again for helping us at the market today, Kikuyo. Finding you was a lifesaver."

Ino grinned. "I'm glad to help. I'm staying with a friend in Tanigakure, so you won't need to take me back home. I'm trying to find a job in Tanigakure."

The wife patted her hand. "We come to the market every Thursday. Just stop by and let us know if you need anything. If Tanigakure doesn't work out, you can come and work on the farm with us. I don't want my beloved's cousin's daughter to be destitute in a strange city."

Ino smiled and squeezed the woman's hand. She was a complete stranger whose memories she'd modified. She always felt guilty using the Yamanaka clan's kinjutsu, even on a mission like this. But on an infiltration mission like this, she needed to be very careful. She needed to be sure that her cover story was flawless.

"Thanks, Auntie Chuorippu. I'll be sure to stop by to see you whether I want to go home or stay in Tanigakure."

The gentle flow of the canal lulled her to sleep and when she awoke, they were just passing under a large stone bridge. They navigated out of the bay of Tanigakure and into one of the smaller canals that lead to the Flower Market of Tanigakure. Four canals had been dug out in Tanigakure in concentric half circles with row houses dotting the banks of the canals. The canals were wide enough to allow water traffic in both directions and still accommodate the houseboats that were anchored near the docks.

Ino helped her 'Auntie Chuorippu' up from the boat. Next was the backbreaking task of carrying all of the tulips to the market. She and Uncle worked to move the inventory, so that Auntie didn't have carry the heavy pots full of soil.

The day passed without incident. She had suppressed her chakra to civilian levels and kept it fluctuating randomly. All living things had chakra, only ninjas knew how to harness and channel it to perform ninjutsu and genjutsu. Totally suppressed chakra would have been as much of a beacon to the Tanigakure ninja that she was a ninja as her regular unsuppressed chakra levels.

As she sold their flowers to the civilians and ninjas of Tanigakure, she put a hand through her short blonde hair. She hadn't dyed it or put in contacts, which would be difficult to explain if someone looked through her bags. A drastic haircut, different posture, different mannerisms would have to do well enough for her. She was a stranger to the people of Tanigakure and her face wasn't in the bingo books, so it was a risk worth taking for the mission.

Her eyes flickered up to a sandy brown haired woman in a housemaid's uniform who was browsing through her flowers. This could be promising. Smiling disarmingly at the other woman, Ino held out a bouquet of orange tulips. "Can I help you find anything?"

The woman looked up and smiled back at Ino. Her hazel eyes flickered down to the flowers. "Those are pretty."

The woman paid for the flowers and headed back to work. Ino told her 'Auntie' that she needed to run off to meet someone and hurried off to trail the woman. The housemaid turned off on one of the alleyways, taking a shortcut home. The alleyway was blessedly deserted and dangerously remote.

Ino pounced. She was quickly able to overwhelm the civilian woman and took control of her mind. She didn't have long to work. She wasn't sure if the ninja of the village would notice her using chakra.

Yamamoto Naomi was the woman's name. She worked at the Nakamura residence. Ino modified her memories. It was a rush job, but it would be sufficient for a couple hours. She would return tonight and finish the job.

She learned about the family from Naomi's memories. The Nakamura family was an affluent family from the merchant class who had made their fortune in the shipping business. Gosho had begun his life as a sailor but eventually made enough money to buy a small merchant vessel. He had married Tsuma and they had a son together named Shosen. Shosen was currently away from Tanigakure; he was the captain of the flagship in their merchant fleet.

They were affluent and influential in Tani, but they were not a family of shinobi and few shinobi came to their home. That would be as good a place as any to manufacture her job history and learn how to actually _be_ a housemaid.

* * *

**Interlude**

_Her hands twitched around the paper cup that she gripped tightly in her hands. The coffee at the hospital was wretched stuff, but she didn't want to fall asleep when all three of her sons were fighting for their lives on the other side of those doors._

_Kami, what would she do if she lost one of them? What if she lost all of them? _

_They were too young to have activated their Sharingans. They didn't know how to control them. And they had been foolish enough to fight their captors with the things activated. Senju Takara had sobbed something about bleeding eyes before the girl was taken by her mother to have her wounds closed up._

_Her hands shook as she moved the cup to her lips. It was cold. She threw it in the trash and began pacing again. She'd worn a path into the carpet in front of the intensive care unit where she'd kept her sentinel for the last… twenty hours or so. _

_She was exhausted. It was only adrenaline, caffeine, and that bag of pretzels that she'd gotten from the vending machine that was keeping her going. _

_Sasuke wandered over to where she was pacing and handed her another paper cup of coffee. She accepted it gratefully. "When's the last time you slept?" he asked._

_She glared at him. "When my children were sleeping in their beds at home. I can't go until I know that they're alright."_

_He frowned at her. "You're no good to them like this. Get some sleep. I'll be here." She felt a little lost. It didn't feel right to go home without them. "Go home," he urged._

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT ONE

* * *

SCENE SEVEN

EXT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, OUTSIDE NARUTO's ACTOR TRAILOR – AFTERNOON

Firuma leans against the railing of the stairs up to Naruto's trailer. Naruto leans against the wall of the trailer, poring over his new script. Sasuke, Ino, and Shikamaru are standing below them on the pavement. Sasuke and Ino are reading their new scripts. Shikamaru doesn't bother reading the script.

NARUTO:

(looks up from the script)

I don't understand, Firuma-sempai. Why do

my parts all say Naruko and not Naruto?

FIRUMA:

That's because you'll be delivering all your

lines as Naruko, your sexy jutsu form.

SASUKE:

(rolls eyes)

NARUTO:

Oh, I get it.

Ino raises her hand.

INO:

Firuma-san. I thought that I had a sex

scene with Sasuke-kun's character. I don't

see that in the script anymore.

SASUKE:

(scowls)

FIRUMA:

That was also revised in the newest version

of the script. All of your scenes are now

with Shikamaru's character.

SHIKAMARU:

(smirks)

INO:

(pouts and blushes)

Firuma turns back to the group assembled.

FIRUMA:

Be sure to practice your lines. Usually

doing a read over is very helpful for new

actors.

NARUTO:

(cheers)

Sure! Sasuke-teme and I can practice

together.

SASUKE:

(scowls)

Ino looks at Shikamaru and blushes.

SHIKAMARU:

(smirks)


	9. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Nine**

I was labeled as a tricky player early on and have been regarded as tricky throughout my whole career. It was said that I was able to pull out tricks from nowhere. - Judit Polgar

* * *

**Sabaku no Temari**

Twisting off the cap of the exotic tincture of pulverized jade, powdered pearl, and ginseng, she dropped a bead of it onto her palm before smoothing it over her face. The land of wind was a harsh mistress; the sand and heat scored her skin like sandpaper. She wasn't usually one for exotic and expensive makeup regimes, but this had been a gift from Gaara.

Kami, she was so proud of her brother.

When Gaara showed promise as a ninja, Temari was held back from making chunin so that she could be on the same genin team as him. At the time, she had been bitter about still being a genin at fifteen. When she raged at her father about the injustice of it all, he merely said that the village shouldn't let its sharpest sword gather dust on the shelf.

But their time in the village of their greatest enemies had changed her brother for the better. After Kankuro had gotten into a spat with some punk from the famed Uchiha clan and nearly started the fourth ninja war early, Gaara met him – the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, Uzumaki Naruto. The blond prankster showed Gaara that even people with monsters inside of them could forge bonds with others.

She had found herself up against some lazy boy in the finals. This boy who wanted to just sit around and watch the clouds had outsmarted her. What began as scornful condescension became grudging respect.

After the ROOT incident, Shikamaru spent five years working as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi of the Land of Fire before taking a position in Suna almost two months ago. He had opened his home to her and her brothers while they were staying in Konoha during Naruto's ascension.

Gaara had offered the Nara genius the position and after mulling it over, Shikamaru accepted. He hadn't signed any contract so he could stay for as long as he wanted. She hoped he stayed for a while. He was so…so Shikamaru.

She started at the knock on the bathroom door. "Hey, Temari. We're supposed to be meeting with the counselors in half an hour. Are you finished putting your face on?" Kankuro teased from behind the door.

"I'll be out in a minute," she called back.

Tying her hair back, she closed the bathroom door behind her and followed Kankuro across the atrium of their house and outside to the council chambers.

The morning sun beat down upon the dusty cement and the palm trees lining the street offered little shade from the heat. This was her home. The wind towers standing tall and proud on the buildings as they kept the people inside cool; the sand shifting beneath her feet.

It was a quick walk to the council chambers. They passed her friends Maki and TenTen on the way. Maki waved at them as she headed towards the village walls, no doubt to join the next watch. Her white turban was wrapped expertly. She had such skill with cloth.

The Konoha kunoichi winked at her as she walked with Maki to the village wall. Like Shikamaru, TenTen was another transplant from Konoha. Like Shikamaru, she had her heart broken in Konoha after the death of her Hyuga teammate during the Fourth Ninja War. Temari hoped that Shikamaru would do as well in Suna as TenTen seemed to be doing. The weapons mistress was a hard worker and was well respected by the ninja of Suna.

When they finally arrived into the Kazekage Tower, they found Shikamaru leaning back against the doors. He wore short sleeve navy blue fatigues under his Konoha flak jacket. The bright Suna sun had done wonders for him. He looked brown and healthy. He was engrossed in a letter when they arrived. He nodded to them as they walked up. "Good morning," he mumbled staring back down at the letter.

"Do you know what this is about then?" wondered Kankuro.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Mission Request from Konoha."

* * *

**Interlude**

_In a daze, she wandered out of the hospital. She couldn't even remembering passing her own house, but she ended up at Shikamaru's doorstep. She opened the door to the house and walked in. She slipped off her shoes at the door and padded down the hallway towards the main rooms. _

_He wasn't in the kitchen, dining room, or living room. She climbed up the stairs, vaguely wondering where the group from Suna was. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were supposed to be staying at his house for Naruto's inauguration. Had she missed him? Had they already headed back to Suna? _

_His mother's funeral had been that afternoon. She'd stumbled out of her sons' hospital rooms for an hour and ran over to the graveyard just as they were lowering the casket into the ground. She stood in the back of the crowd, watching. Choza stood next to Shikamaru in the front row with an arm around Shikamaru and Choukichi secured in his other arm._

_Thank Kami for Choza. _

_There was a pile of bags and scrolls at the base of the stairs up to the bedrooms. Shikamaru hadn't left yet. She walked up the stairs and they creaked on the third to last step as she got to the landing. She found him in his room sitting on his bed and staring blankly at the wall. She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. _

_"Shika," she whispered._

_He grabbed her around the waist suddenly and pulled her to him. She stumbled over to him, taken by surprise. He stayed seated, pulling her between his legs and hiding his head against her belly. She smoothed a hand through his hair, taking it out of his ponytail._

_"It's alright," she whispered. "I'm here,"_

_"Ino," he whispered back._

_He let out a hoarse sob, clutching her to him tighter. His hands were suddenly everywhere; they caressed and stroked and worshiped. He tugged off her shirt and her skirt and her bra and her panties, tearing furiously at the fabric. _

_She slid into his lap, putting her hands on either side of his face and kissing him. She sat straddling him, with her knees on either side of his hips. She was bare before him: her mind and her heart and her body. His hands slid around to her lower back, pressing her closer to him. Her nipples pebbled as they rubbed against the rough fabric of his shirt. _

_"Ino," he whispered again._

_His tears were salty on her cheeks and she was surprised to find that she was crying too as she kissed him. It was slow and exploratory; it was wild and passionate; it was perfect. It had been so long since he had made love to her, but every flick of his tongue, every caress was familiar. _

_It was like coming home._

_She brushed his hair back from his face and pulled away from him, smoothing a hand across his cheek. His dark eyes flickered up to hers. She kissed him on the forehead and then tugged his shirt over his head. He palmed her breasts in his hands, kneading them and teasing her nipples. _

_"I love you," she whispered before claiming his mouth in a kiss. _

_Her breath hitched in her throat at the feeling of the rough fabric of his pants brushing against her clit. His hands slid down to her hips, and he thrust up against her slightly._

_"Ino," he gasped. _

_She sat back, breathing heavily. Crawling off his lap, she knelt in front of him. She slipped off his ninja sandals, his pants, and his boxers. His cock jutted out thick and hard. He stared intently down at her, his eyes dark with passion._

_"Shika, let me help you feel better," she whispered._

_Staring deep into his eyes, she kissed the tip of his manhood, pulling him into her mouth and kissing his erection thoroughly. She applied a sucking pressure, slipping her tongue around him as she took as much of him into her mouth as she could. He groaned, gazing down at her with half lidded eyes._

_Her hands slid up his calves and his thighs as she shifted closer to him. Sucking gently, she massaged his balls in her hands. He put his hands into her hair, pulling her head closer to him. She sucked gently for several minutes until she let go with a slick pop._

_"Oh, Kami, Ino," he moaned._

_She dragged the tip of her tongue along his shaft and took him in her mouth again. His hips jerked forward and he let out a groan, thrusting into her mouth. She wrapped her tongue around him and sucked again. The jerking of his hips intensified. He was close._

_He pushed her away from him suddenly. She fell onto the floor with a yelp. _

_He swooped in and threw her onto his bed. Wild eyed, he flipped her onto her back and spread her legs for him. He was panting like he'd run a race; he wanted to come inside her and not inside her mouth. One finger slid inside her slick folds, teasing and caressing, and then a second and then a third. She moaned as he stretched her, preparing her for his erection. _

_But he was impatient. As she began to feel the slow buildup to her orgasm, he released a shock of lightening style chakra against her clitoris. Her hips jerked off the bed as she climaxed suddenly._

_"Oh, Shika," she gasped._

_"Oh, Ino," he moaned, pounding into her with a swift and deep thrust._

_She cried out as he sheathed himself within her. Her head lolled back against the pillows and her legs trembled on either side of him. She moaned half in pain and half in pleasure as he slid out and then thrust into her again, even harder than the first time. She cried out his name as she was hit with a second orgasm. She arched off the bed and her walls contracted madly. _

_"Oh Kami," she moaned, "What have you done to me?"_

_But he didn't lose his focus. Harder and harder he thrust, squeezing her hips roughly. He lifted her hips off the bed and guided her legs up near his shoulders. She let out a keening moan as he reached a new depth within her and she came hard for a third time. He spread her legs wider and she shrieked out as he pounded into her furiously._

_"Shikamaru!" she screamed as she was shaken by an aftershock and then another orgasm. _

_She moaned weakly. He'd short circuited her. Her walls clenched and unclenched madly as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her. It was like electricity coursing through her veins. She came again and he continued to pound into her like a man possessed. His cock penetrated her so deeply that he brushed against her womb. She didn't know what was happening anymore. _

_She lay back moaning and keening and crying and screaming and gasping for god, for Shikamaru, for the pleasure to stop, for the pleasure to never end. Her legs trembled over his shoulders and her vaginal walls shuddered madly around his cock as he penetrated her again and again and again, deeper and deeper and deeper, harder and harder and harder._

_"Oh, Kami, Ino," he hollered finally as he thrust into her one last time and emptied every drop of himself into her womb. _

_She came one last time, completely exhausted. It was spiritual; it was emotional; it was metaphysical. Her soul separated from her body and floated above her. She lay back against the pillows completely exhausted, her legs still twitching around his shoulders and her walls contracting as another aftershock hit her. Sweat and hot tears slid down from her face._

_She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow._

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

She saw him sitting at the bar, finishing a second beer. She'd been in Tanigakure for three weeks already and had finally worked up the courage to pursue this part of the plan. Shikamaru would be arriving very soon from Suna. She needed to place herself in the Tanikage's residence so that she could offer backup and information to him.

She also needed to get this mission completed soon, she was six weeks pregnant and her morning sickness was beginning to start. Shikamaru would say that she was being reckless coming to Tanigakure while pregnant. He was probably right. It was dangerous for both her and the baby, but the mission was equally important for Konoha.

She could discover where ROOT was hiding and what their plans were. If she succeeded in her mission, her children would never have to fear this unknown enemy ever again! That was a goal worth risking everything for.

She winked at the bartender and the young man stopped taking some guys' orders to rush over and serve her. She'd gone up a cup size after having the triplets and she used it to full advantage today, showing an impressive amount of cleavage.

"Hey," she said in a sultry drawl. "A bourbon on the rocks for that guy with the silver hair on me."

The bartender looked hurt, so she leaned over the bar and slipped a tip into his jacket pocket with a saucy wink. The bartender blushed as Ino sat back in her seat and then went to make the drink.

She'd slipped into the backroom during the night and modified the bartender's memory. He was under the impression that they'd had sex on top of the kegs in the back. They hadn't actually. He was going to slip a little something in the drink of the man she told him to. The bartender wouldn't remember any of this in the morning.

The man accepted the beer with a nod at the bartender. The bartender indicated her across the bar and said she'd bought him the drink. He took a sip as he eyed her with interest. He thanked the bartender and then wandered over to take the empty seat next to her.

This man was Gin, the Tanikage's advisor. He had considerable influence over Jiton Izo and his family. He could also provide a wealth of information for her. She'd learned that he was a bit of a womanizer, so maybe she could pretend to be his girlfriend and gain some intel that way.

It also helped that he was handsome. He had spiky silver hair that he wore in a low ponytail and intelligent dark eyes. He was tall and slender with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. It was hard to tell his age because his hair was silver, but he didn't look too old. If she had to guess, she would say around thirty-five.

Shikamaru had once complained to Choji that she always tended to go for those cool, pretty boy types. Gin fit the mold.

Shikamaru was the mold.

"I couldn't think of another way to get you over here so I could talk to you." She smiled disarmingly.

"I'm glad you did," he chuckled. "I'm Gin."

"Kikuyo," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

She clinked her glass to his. She was almost finished with her coke. She thought about getting a glass of wine or beer as a little liquid courage for what she'd have to do tonight, but it wouldn't be good for Shikamaru's baby. And she would be better sober when facing one of the most powerful jonin of the village.

Gin asked, "How is it that I've never seen you around the village before? I wouldn't easily forget a face as beautiful as yours."

She chuckled and finished her glass. Leaning in, she nipped at his ear and whispered hotly, "Wanna get out of here?"

She was surprised how little convincing Gin needed to take her to his apartment for what he probably thought promised to be a steamy night of sex. Surely shinobi had been trained to be skeptical of the advances of beautiful women trying to pick them up at bars?

Itachi had told something similar to her once, but he had been smarter and more practical than most ninjas or perhaps he had just been extremely suspicious of people's motivations after being a member of ROOT and then an S-class rogue ninja.

Though she couldn't see Shikamaru picking up a woman at a bar either. He'd say that it was too troublesome.

Gin tossed back his drink and then hurried after her. They'd carried on some meaningless conversation on the way over, stopping to steal kisses. She suppressed the chill of revulsion at having a strange man's mouth on her mouth and hands wandering her body. She pretended that it was Shikamaru and that made it better.

They ran up the stairs to his apartment and he pushed her back against his front door kissing her madly. "You're the sexiest thing I've ever seen," Gin mumbled into her mouth, as he fumbled for his keys.

She ran her hands down his arms and over his back and kept the kissing clinical. His mouth was slimy and the kiss was wet and slobbery, like kissing a dog. Pretend it's Shikamaru. Pretend it's Shikamaru. He finally got the door open and she stepped inside and closed the door behind them. When he moved to grab her again, she winked and stepped back.

Holding him in place with a heated stare, she slowly pulled the dress up over head and threw it behind her. He licked his lips and watched her worshipfully as she strutted towards him swaying her hips in wide circles. Pretend it's Shikamaru. Pretend it's Shikamaru. Her hands reached behind her back to unclasp her bra and it fell to the ground.

He collapsed onto the floor, fast asleep.

She put back on her bra, glad that her stalling had given the tranquilizer time to kick in. She ran to the bathroom and lost her lunch in the toilet.

Walking out into the living room, she picked up her clutch purse where she'd dropped it by the door and found the small storage scroll. She unsealed the items inside and went about putting them around the apartment. Changes of clothes hanging in the closet, an extra pair of shoes on the floor, half empty shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the shower, moisturizer on the bathroom sink, an extra toothbrush and razor on the sink, pads and tampons below the sink. There were already plenty of condoms in the bathroom, but she put a couple of the ones she'd bought there as well.

She took a step back and surveyed her work. Yep, it looked like a woman slept over here a lot.

She walked back into the main room and worked on Gin's memories. She went back four months and inserted herself into them according to her cover story.

She was his dirty little secret. They'd have illicit rendezvous at night, wandering around the city together. She was a maid, a servant, so that's why he'd kept their relationship a secret from the other jonin. She was beautiful but quite below him in the pecking order.

She had to create several memories of them having sex. She hadn't enjoyed it in the least, but creating memories of the act was better than actually performing it. They used condoms and she was on birth control, so she wouldn't conceive - she didn't want him thinking the child she was carrying was his. She didn't intend for any of the Tanigakure ninjas to discover that she was pregnant.

She also inserted a thought into his mind that he would recommend her to Jiton Izo for a position in the Tanikage's household staff.

She was surprised to find that some of his memories within the last couple months had been blocked off. There were several sophisticated mental blocks and traps in his mind. She would look at those later. For now her work was done.

She was tired and had used most of her chakra changing his memories and keeping him unaware of what was going on. It had taken her about four hours total to modify his memories. She used chakra to make it easier to pick him up from the floor and put him on the bed. She pulled off his clothes and left him in the boxers he usually slept in. She took a towel off the rack and took a shower and changed into sleep shorts and a shirt. She would sleep here tonight and prayed that all her work would pay off in the morning.

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE EIGHT

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, CUTTING ROOM – EVENING

Firuma sits in front of the large screens in the room. There are nine screens up against the walls set into groups three long and three wide. He takes off his baseball hat and scratches his head. He picks back up a notebook beside him and jots down a note.

Ashisutanto, the assistant director, sits beside him with his arms crossed over his chest. Ashisutanto is a lanky man in his late thirties with a shaved head and a diamond earring.

ASHISUTANTO:

They're not that bad, Firuma.

FIRUMA

(sighs)

We're going to have to reshoot most of this.

Naruto won't stop looking at the camera,

Shikamaru won't stop smirking, and Ino won't

stop blushing.

ASHISUTANTO:

(laughs)

At least that Sasuke kid is doing a good

job. He's a natural.

FIRUMA

Yeah, he was a good find.

Hisho, Firuma's secretary, walks into the room with cups of coffee for the director and assistant director. Hisho still dresses like a college student even though he graduated two years ago. Hishio hands the cups to the two men.

HISHO

How's it looking, then?

FIRUMA

(sighs)

Bad. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten ninja to

play ninja after all.

ASHISUTANTO:

It's not too bad. They're just still a

little raw.

FIRUMA

Are they reading over their lines at all?

Hisho?

HISHO

(stutters)

Was I supposed to be checking up on them?

FIRUMA

(nods)

Why don't you stop by their trailers and

make sure that they know they need to be

practice their lines more.

CUT TO:

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, SHIKAMARU's ACTOR TRAILER – EVENING

Ino and Shikamaru sit on Shikamaru's bed staring at each other. They're stripped down to their underwear and a script is open on the bed. Shikamaru stares very interested in the birth control seal on her hip. Ino shifts so her right hip is out of his gaze. Shikamaru nods down at the script and Ino clears her throat to try the lines again.

INO:

(stutters)

Oh, Hikamitsu!

SHIKAMARU:

(clears throat)

It says that you're supposed to moan that

line.

INO:

(blushes)

Can we try a different line? I can practice

that one on my own.

SHIKAMARU:

(coughs)

How about you start again on the top of the

next page?

Ino flips her script onto the next page and blushes again. She has trouble meeting Shikamaru's eyes.

INO:

(blushing)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Don't STOP!

INO:

(stuttering)

Oh, Hikamitsu! Oh, Please! Oh, God!

SHIKAMARU:

(smirks)

You're supposed to moan those lines too.

INO:

(glares)

I want to make you MOAN!

SHIKAMARU:

(mutters)

Please do.

Ino blushes bright red as she realizes what she just said.

SHIKAMARU:

(smirks)

Maybe if we try this with the stage

directions?

INO:

(blushes)

Okay.

SHIKAMARU:

(blushes)

Start on the top, page 56, where it says

that you sit in my lap.

Ino leans over and picks up the script off the bed. She turns the page back and skims it. Ino blushes madly but sits in Shikamaru's lap. He shifts her a little so that she's straddling him.

Shikamaru runs his hands over her back and lays kisses on her collarbone and down her chest. His hands move to her breasts to caress them over her bra. He bites gently at her nipples over the fabric of her bra.

INO:

(moans)

Oh, Shikamaru.

Shikamaru's right hand moves to her bra and unclaps it. He slides the straps down her arms and moves his mouth to her chest, taking one of her peaked nipples in his mouth. He swirls his tongue over it.

INO:

(gasps)

Oh, Please, don't stop!

SHIKAMARU:

(mumbles)

You're so beautiful.

Shikamaru gently lowers Ino onto the bed and covers her body with his own. His hands slowly slide her panties down her legs and he kisses his way down her flat belly.

Ino helps him take off his boxers. Shikamaru and Ino continue to kiss and caress each other for some time.

SHIKAMARU:

(panting)

Oh, God, Ino. I don't know how much longer

I can wait.

INO:

(in panic)

Shika, I've never done this before.

SHIKAMARU:

(whispers)

You've never PRACTICED this particular

scene?

INO:

(moans)

No. Have you?

SHIKAMARU:

(blushes)

I haven't PRACTICED it either. I've been –

I've been waiting to PRACTICE it with you.

Ino blinks in surprise and then grabs Shikamaru's face and kisses him desperately.

INO:

Oh, Shikamaru! That's so romantic!

Shikamaru thrusts into her slowly and she moans in pain and pleasure. He eases up and kisses her cheeks and forehead, looking at her in concern.

SHIKAMARU:

(whispers)

Are you okay, Ino?

Ino pants and nods. She clutches his hands in hers and rocks her hips up towards him. He moans as he slides deeper into her.

INO:

(panting)

I'm okay.

SHIKAMARU:

(between kisses)

You are the most beautiful creature on this

earth, Ino Yamanaka.

Shikamaru pulls out of her and thrusts in again. She moans and moves her hips in time with his.

INO:

(panting)

Oh, Shika, I think I love you.

SHIKAMARU:

(groaning)

Ino, I've always loved you.

She pulls his head down to hers and kisses him soundly as he moves inside her.

SHIKAMARU

(groans)

You're so TIGHT, Ino!

INO:

(moaning)

Oh, God, Shikamaru, you're so THICK! More!

Harder! Faster! Deeper!

SHIKAMARU:

(panting)

INO:

(moaning)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Don't STOP!

SHIKAMARU

(groans)

INO:

(keens)

Harder! Oh, Yes!

SHIKAMARU:

(groaning)

I'm – I'm going to come, Ino.

INO:

OH, SHIKAMARU! OH, YES! SHIKAMARU!

CUT TO:

EXT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, OUTSIDE SHIKAMARU's ACTOR TRAILER – EVENING

Hishio puts a hand over his nose to cover his nosebleed.

HISHO

(blushes)

Well they're certainly enthusiastic.


	10. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty**

Could we look into the head of a Chess player, we should see there a whole world of feelings, images, ideas, emotion, and passion. - Alfred Binet

* * *

**Interlude**

_She woke up alone in Shikamaru's bed. It was early still, but she's slept soundly for several hours. She put a hand on his side of the bed and it was cold. He hadn't slept there last night. She sat up and his sheets pooled in her lap. She rubbed her eyes. The room smelled like sex. Her thighs were slick from her arousal and his semen. She was also really sore. _

_Well she hadn't had sex in five years and he hadn't been gentle._

_He'd…he'd short circuited her last night, there was no other explanation. Her face burned when she thought of their night together. Had he used a jutsu on her? What on earth had he done to her? _

_She fell back against the bed, looking out his window. The sun was just beginning to rise. His room faced east. She had always thought that it was ironic. His mother had probably planned it that way, putting her lazy son in the room that would be bathed in the morning light every day. It was hard to sleep until noon when the sun was shining in your eyes._

_Maybe she'd have a little soak while she waited for him to return so they could talk about what happened. She needed to clean herself up anyway and a bath would help the soreness between her legs. _

_She hoped that he'd hurry back; she didn't want to leave her boys' bedsides for too long. _

_She turned on the faucet to fill up the bath and went to look for her clothes. Her panties were torn but her bra was intact. There was a rip in her skirt and a number of buttons on her shirt had been popped off. _

_She took his soap and shampoo and turned off the tap. Steam rose off the water and she lowered herself into the tub with a moan. The warm water flowed over her, relaxing her sore muscles and the tenderness between her thighs._

_She rubbed the soap along her body and washed her hair, enjoying the smell of his shampoo. It smelled like him, like pine needles. After she washed out the shampoo, she lay back against the tub, resting her feet up by the faucet and closing her eyes. _

_She didn't know how long she waited for him like that. When the water had cooled and she began to shiver, she climbed out of the tub and dried herself off with a fuzzy green towel. Where was he? Why hadn't he come to check on her?_

_Had he…had he left before saying goodbye?_

_She wrapped the towel around her body. Running down the stairs, she stood frozen on the ground floor. All of his bags were gone. His spot on the bed had been cold, like he hadn't slept there last night._

_He'd left without saying goodbye._

* * *

**Nara Shikamaru**

Temari and Kankuro had looked curiously at the scroll as it was unrolled and the mission was presented to the Nara genius. Neither seemed particularly enthusiastic at the idea of Shikamaru heading off alone on a mission assigned by Konoha. He was a Suna shinobi now, right?

Now in the comfort of his own rooms in the Kazekage's residence, he reread the mission scroll even though he'd already committed it to memory.

**_Shikamaru,_**

**_Tanigakure just appointed Jiton Izo as its Tanikage. The Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages have appointed you as our ambassador to Tani. You're there to facilitate what we hope will be a favorable and fruitful relationship between the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages and this new Kage._**

**_You're also there to determine if they have any connection to ROOT. We suspect that Tani might be the minor village tasked by ROOT to steal Suna's bloodlines. Jiron Izo - His clan name is Magnet Release? - may possess the kekkei genkai of the Third Kazekage. Be careful around him. He's very powerful._**

**_Yamanaka Ino is working undercover in Tani. She will try to make contact with you during the mission. She asks that you brush up on your Hanakotoba before you go to Tani._**

**_Uzumaki Naruto _**

**_Hatake Kakashi_**

**_Senju Yamato_**

He should have expected the second letter enclosed with this one addressed to him alone, but it surprised him nonetheless. Ino had been a regular pen pal for the last couple years after all.

At first he'd thrown away each letter she sent in a fit of rage when he received them. However, after some years had passed and his mentor Daichi helped him to center his mind, he'd begun to read her missives. She kept things light, talking about their friends and family and her children. He never wrote back of course. She usually included a pressed flower with her note…

He opened her letter and a lotus flower fell out – far from the one she loves.

**_Shikamaru,_**

**_You'll be glad to know that Choza and Choukichi are doing well. I went to visit them yesterday and Choukichi, the little darling, is as chubby and giggly as ever. He reminds me so much of Choji._**

**_Sarutobi Konohamaru took and passed his jonin exam last week. You'll be amused to know that he's started to grow a beard so he'll look more like Asuma. Don't tell him I told you, but it looks terrible! _**

**_Kurenai and Asuka are well. Asuka just celebrated her fifth birthday last week. We had a joint party to celebrate both Sarutobi's accomplishments. Asuka wasn't too pleased that she had to share her special day with "that man with the scary beard."_**

**_The triplets are doing better, they've woken up but aren't too excited by the fact I'm becoming a ninja again. Kurohyou was going to march over to the Hokage Tower and demand that Naruto reassign the mission. What a troublemaker!_**

**_Speaking of Naruto, he's doing really well as the Hokage. He's only been at it for about three weeks so far but you can really see all the change and all the good things he's done for Konoha and for the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages. Though, it might just be because I'm juxtaposing Naruto's and Kakashi's actions as Hokage that makes Naruto seem so much more impressive. I probably shouldn't be so critical of Kakashi-sensei. He's doing a great job as a member of the Konoha Council. It's an ideal position for him because he's content to do nothing and mind his own business and we're content to have him not interfere too much in our affairs. _**

**_I saw your letter on your kitchen table after I'd woken up that morning. You don't need to apologize for what happened. I didn't plan for it to happen and neither did you - we were both beside ourselves with grief. But I don't regret it; I'm not ashamed of what we did even if you are._**

**_I've told you before how I've resolved never to lie to you again, so I know that it wouldn't be right keeping this next piece of news from you. Shika, we didn't use protection. I'm pregnant; you're going to be a father._**

**_I know that you'll be skeptical whether the child's yours and whether or not I'd planned this all along. I give you my word that I've been faithful to you. There hasn't been anyone else. And I didn't plan for this to happen; it just happened. _**

**_I'm going to keep the baby. I'm not asking for anything from you that you don't want to give. If you don't want to be in this child's life, I won't force fatherhood upon you. I have some experience being a single mother, so I'll manage somehow on my own. However, if you do want to be involved in some capacity, I'll accommodate your wishes as best I can. _**

**_Nevertheless, I thought that you had a right to know._**

**_With Love,_**

**_Ino_**

Kami, what was he going to say to her when they met again? Now that she was pregnant with his child…

He put his head in his hands and looked down at the bag he was packing. They were going to both be undercover; he couldn't talk to her about what happened in Konoha and the baby. He was going to have to pretend that she was a stranger to him. She was going to have to pretend he was a stranger.

But she was having his _baby_…

It was simply too much to take in. He didn't know what he wanted. His heart seemed to love her and loathe her in equal measure. It seemed that every time he managed to convince himself that he'd fallen out of love with her; some new circumstance disrupted his careful detachment.

He shouldn't have slept with her. It was a mistake. Every day he was haunted and tantalized by the memory of her passion, her lips sliding over his, her body moving together with his. But it shouldn't have happened.

And now there was a child being brought into their very broken relationship. It was the worst possible situation.

_I'm not asking for anything from you that you don't want to give … However, if you do want to be involved in some capacity…_

Did he want to be involved? He wasn't sure. He wanted to both be a father for his child and pretend that this child didn't even exist. In chess and on the battlefield he could always think twenty steps ahead of his opponent but where Ino was concerned, he had difficulty even thinking of the next step to take.

There was knock on the door and the Kazekage let himself into Shikamaru's room where he was packing clothes for his mission.

Leaning back against the wall, Gaara's bright green eyes stared him down. "I wanted to tell you more about the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Techniques before you left."

Shikamaru sighed, carefully packing away his sealing scrolls, ink, and pens into a storage scroll. "Do you suspect the same thing? That Jiton Izo might be the son of the Third Kazekage?"

Gaara rubbed his eyes. "I hope for our sake he's not, but we need to be prepared for that contingency. Though I don't understanding how that could have even been possible."

Shikamaru upended his weapons holsters and hip pouches onto his bed and sorted his kunai, senbon, ninja wire, and shuriken. He was low on explosive tags and Hirashin tags. He'd have to make a couple more before he left. He was also running low on kunai. He'd have to buy some in Suna before heading out.

Turning to the Kazekage, Shikamaru explained, "Shimura Danzo's influence spread much farther than we expected. He had operatives spying in all the five great shinobi villages. I wouldn't be surprised if the purpose of several of these spies was stealing bloodlines. Danzo was allied closely with Hanzo of the Salamander and Orochimaru of the Sannin. Orochimaru was a companion of Akasuna no Sasori, who captured and turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet. Perhaps Sasori and Orochimaru helped Danzo to steal the Kazekage's bloodline."

Gaara crossed his arms over his chest. "I never realized how dangerous that man, Shimura Danzo was."

"He was a true shinobi, hiding and plotting in the shadows," agreed Shikamaru. "Luckily, I'm most dangerous in the shadows."

Gaara looked uneasy. "There was one other thing."

Shikamaru packed the shuriken and ninja wire into his hip pouch carefully. He glanced up at Gaara and nodded. "What was that?"

Gaara scratched his head, looking uncomfortable. "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but there was a woman after the war. We were lovers during the weeks I was convalescing."

Shikamaru looked equally uncomfortable. "You think she might have been a ROOT agent?"

Gaara nodded. "This was before we knew anything about ROOT. I asked her to come to Suna with me, but she just disappeared. She could have very easily been pregnant with my child if she had been lying about her birth control."

* * *

**Interlude**

_She wandered into the kitchen to get a glass of water, clutching the tower closer to her body and silently fuming. She glared at the faucet as she filled up a glass from the tap._

_How dare he! How dare he leave like this! _

_Didn't he feel any responsibility towards the woman he'd slept with last night? _

_She'd gone to his house hoping to say goodbye, maybe try to convince him to stay in Konoha, but at least to offer her condolences about his mother and Choji. And what did she do? She lost her mind and offered her body to him as a comfort, seeking comfort from his body herself._

_They'd poured all their rage and their passion and their sorrow into each other. It was rough; it was tender; it was bruising; it was soothing. They'd used each other, but was it wrong to surrender to the familiar passion? She loved him, so sleeping with him wasn't wrong, right?_

_There was a note on the table. It was dated yesterday._

**_Ino,_**

**_I apologize for what happened tonight. It should never have happened. It was a mistake that we made because we were both half mad with grief. I shouldn't have used you like that; it wasn't right. I don't blame you for seducing me, but please, let me move on in peace. _**

**_Gaara and his siblings began their journey back to Suna yesterday after the funeral. I was supposed to rendezvous with them this evening. I was about to leave when you surprised me in my bedroom. I'm leaving now to rendezvous with them._**

**_I'm sorry._**

**_Goodbye,_**

**_Shikamaru_**

_She gripped the towel tighter around her naked body. Seduced him? Seduced him? Why did he have to be such an asshole sometimes? She couldn't decide if she loved him or hated him right now. She rubbed a hand over her eyes, suddenly exhausted. _

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE NINE

EXT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, COSTUME TRAILER – AFTERNOON

Ishou, the costume director, sticks several pins into Ino's costume. Shikamaru is leaning against the wall watching. Naruto and Sasuke are fighting on the other side of the room.

ISHOU:

I'll just have to take it in a little bit.

That's the last one, Ino. You're done too.

INO:

(smiling)

Thanks, Ishou. All of the costumes are so

beautiful.

SHIKAMARU:

(clears throat)

Well if we're done here, I think we should

PRACTICE our lines a bit more, Ino. We

haven't gone through the scene on page 79

yet.

INO:

(winks)

Yes. We should PRACTICE that scene.

Ino takes off the costume and then she and Shikamaru run off together.

Ishou walks over to where Naruto and Sasuke are.

NARUTO:

Where'd Shikamaru and Ino go?

SASUKE:

(shrugs)

ISHOU:

They said something about practicing a

scene. They said not to wait for them.

NARUTO:

They're practicing now? Do we need to

practice more, Sasuke?

SASUKE:

(huffs)

NARUTO:

Well we have to try on our costumes. We can

practice our lines later.

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, HALLWAY OFF THE MAINSTAGE – AFTERNOON

Naruto walks down the hallway looking for Ino and Shikamaru. He hears their voices coming from inside a storage closet.

NARUTO:

That's a strange place to practice lines.

Naruto puts his hand to the doorknob but stops when the door shudders as if someone's slamming themselves against it.

INO: (OFF STAGE)

(moans)

Oh, God! Oh, YES!

SHIKAMARU: (OFF STAGE)

(groaning)

Oh, FUCK!

INO: (OFF STAGE)

(panting)

Harder! Harder! Oh, Shika!

SHIKAMARU: (OFF STAGE)

(moaning)

INO: (OFF STAGE)

(screams)

YES! YES! YES! SHIKAMARU!

Naruto takes his hand off the door and nods in approval.

NARUTO:

Wow. They're really good at this acting

thing! But they really do need to work on

the lines.


	11. Chapter 61

**A/N: I haven't reached 100 views yet, but I've posted Makeout Tactics anyway. The rate of reviews that I'd been getting dropped substantially for the last couple chapters. :-(**

**Chapter Sixty-One**

Can you imagine the relief it gives a mother when her child amuses himself quietly for hours on end? - Klara Polgar

* * *

**Uchiha Karasu**

Kawauso was the last one to finish the test. He ran a hand through his dark hair as he joined Karasu and Kurohyou outside. "How'd you guys do?"

"It was easy; 100% probably," grinned Kurohyou. "What about you, Karasu?"

Karasu nodded. "Too easy. Iruka said that he'll have to think of harder questions next time. He said that I'm going to be a great shinobi someday."

Kurohyou looked hurt. "Iruka didn't say that to me!"

Kawauso snorted. "Maybe because you give him so much trouble in class."

"He did say that you gave him three grey hairs," Karasu reminded.

"Meh." Kurohyou shrugged. "Whatever."

"How do you think the others did?" wondered Karasu. "Masato was still scratching his head when we left."

Kawauso laughed. "We can ask them in class tomorrow. Takara said that she got 100% too when I saw her on the way out. She said that her mom and dad were going to take her out for ice cream if she got 100% on her first test at the academy."

Kurohyou sighed. "I wish mom was here."

Karasu nodded. "She would have taken us out for ice cream too."

"She would have taken all of us out for ice cream: us, Masato, Takara, and Asuka," mused Kawauso.

"Yeah," agreed Kurohyou. "Our mom's the best."

When Kurohyou started to walk back to Uncle Sasuke's house by himself, Karasu yelled after him, "Stop. We're supposed to wait for Uncle Sasuke to pick us up!"

Kurohyou sneered. "I think we can walk home by ourselves fine. Our mom's on a dangerous mission, I think we're big enough to walk ourselves home."

Kawauso looked conflicted before running after Kurohyou. Finding himself in an impossible situation, Karasu decided to run after them as well. It was better to go home with his brothers and help watch their backs in case they were attacked again rather than wait around for his uncle to pick them up, right? Besides, he could sense the ANBU squad that had been tailing them for the last week. He told his Uncle Sasuke about them the day after they started following him home, but Uncle Sasuke said he and Uncle Yamato had ordered the squad to watch them. So Karasu assumed that he had nothing to fear. Right?

When he finally caught up with his brothers, Kurohyou and Kawauso were talking about their favorite topic.

"What do you think he was like?" Kurohyou wondered.

"Mom never talks about him," said Kawauso.

Karasu looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them. "_No one_ ever talks about him. Everyone gets all tense and quiet when he's mentioned. The villagers didn't like him all. Uncle Sasuke says that he died during the War."

Kawauso looked around the street and then whispered, "Do you think that was dad in mom's mindscape."

Kurohyou nodded emphatically. "Definitely. I wish she hadn't pulled us out of her mindscape before we could talk to him."

Karasu frowned in thought, "But there weren't any other people in her mindscape except us. How was he there?"

"I dunno," Kawauso shrugged.

Kurohyou crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm definitely going to ask her about it again when she gets home. I don't understand why she's so mysterious about it. She's got a ton of pictures of him in her room. They're all mushy and huggy and smiley in them. I don't know why she doesn't want to talk to us about him."

Karasu shook his head. "It's someone else in the pictures. That's mom's old teammate, Nara Shikamaru."

Kawauso nodded in agreement. "Karasu's right. Karasu and I met him. He was that dark haired man that came to save us with the others. I think Granny Yoshino was his mom."

"Granny Yoshino?" wondered Kurohyou.

"Yeah," said Kawauso.

Kurohyou paused in the street. They were almost home. "I've heard that name before. Isn't that the man who's going on the mission with mom?"

Karasu and Kawauso shared a glance. "Yeah."

* * *

**Interlude**

_He nodded to Suigetsu, Kiba, and Shino standing guard by the door to their hospital room. He was grateful for their support. He knew that Suigetsu was doing it for him while Kiba and Shino were probably doing it for Ino, but he was grateful nonetheless._

_Suigetsu walked in with him and they stood in front of the three beds. The boys looked so frail. They were very still and pale. The only motion and noise in the room was the steady beeping and flashing of the vitals monitors in the room._

_Sakura looked up when they walked in. She was sitting in a chair looking out the window. It was a beautiful morning in Konoha. You could just barely see the Hokage Monument from the window of the triplets' hospital room. The village stonemasons had already started carving Baka-sama's face into the stone._

_The pink haired medical ninja put a hand to her lips and motioned to the blonde haired woman asleep beside Kurohyou's bed. Ino's head rested on the side of the bed and her hand rested in the boy's limp hand._

_"She cried herself to sleep," Sakura whispered._

_The two men walked over to her. Sasuke looked at Ino curiously. "I told her to go home and sleep."_

_Sakura shook her head. "She came back early this morning, I saw her by their beds when I came in to check on them at eight."_

_"How are they?" asked Sasuke after a moment's hesitation. He wanted to know, but only if it was good news. _

_He couldn't bear losing Itachi's children. He'd lost so much already, if he lost them, Hinata, or his own children…he'd probably lose his mind._

_Sakura rose to her feet and stretched. "The worst is over. They're going to be okay."_

_Sasuke let out a long breath. "Thank, Kami."_

* * *

**Nara Shikamaru**

Disembarking from the ship that had brought him there, Shikamaru looked around at the village curiously. Tani was reminiscent of Kiri in his opinion. Tani's canals and waterways weren't as extensive as those of the shinobi village of the Land of Water, but they were wonderfully constructed. Tani was in the south of the Land of Rivers, right on the coast, so Shikamaru had taken a ship from the coast of the Land of Fire.

He was met in the city's marina by the Tanikage's advisor Gin. He was a handsome middle aged man with spiky silver hair that fell into his eyes. It was tied at the nape of his neck in a ponytail. He reminded Shikamaru a little of Hatake Kakashi.

"Nara Shikamaru? My name is Gin. I'll be your guide while you're in Tani," said the other man.

Shikamaru shook the other man's hand and nodded to him politely. "Yes, thank you. I'm looking forward to meeting Jiton Izo. The Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages were very glad to hear of his Inauguration."

As they walked away from the marina and into town, Gin explained the schedule for the upcoming month that Shikamaru would be in Tani. Visits to various shinobi and civilian departments, a cultural festival in the middle of the month, discussions with the jonin council, and weekly dinner with the senior jonin at the Tanikage's residence where he would be staying.

"Oh, here comes the old ball and chain," Gin laughed nodding to a blonde woman walking down the street as they neared the center of town.

She was undercover, but Ino looked very much the same to his eyes. Her hair was cut short to fall just below her chin. It was pulled back from her face so he could see her brilliant blue eyes. She wore a knee length black dress. His heart flew into his throat and then sunk into his chest when he thought of her heavy with his child. She didn't look any fuller, but she was only seven weeks along by his estimation.

Ino slid into Gin's arms and kissed him lightly on the mouth. "Hi, honey."

Shikamaru knew that he would be seeing Ino again in Tanigakure, but that knowledge didn't prepare him for the reality of seeing her wrapped tightly in the arms of another man. He wasn't expecting the flame of jealousy to flare up in his heart at the sight.

To what lengths had Ino gone to secure this identity? She had to have slept with Gin. She'd always performed the mindwipe on Shikamaru post-coitus. It was difficult to catch a jonin by surprise otherwise.

This woman was carrying his child; this woman who would sell her body for the mission; this woman who'd offered herself to him in his moment of weakness. Was fidelity really so unimportant to her?

How reckless to go undercover while pregnant! How so very much like Ino. Or was she only so reckless because it was his child? Did she care so little about him that she would take careless risks with his child but not with Uchiha Itachi's children?

"Nara Shikamaru, this is Saitou Kikuyo. Kikuyo, Shikamaru is the Ambassador for the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages," said Gin.

Shikamaru held out his hand and shook Ino's. She nodded politely. "Pleased to meet you, Nara-sama."

Gin turned back to Ino and wrapped an arm around her waist. "How'd your interview go?"

She kissed him on the cheek and smiled happily. "It went really well. I start tomorrow. Thank you so much for introducing me!"

Gin squeezed her waist lightly. "Anything for you, Kikuyo."

She shifted out of the other man's arms and said, "Well I need to get going. It was a pleasure to meet you, Nara-sama."

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE TEN

EXT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET – NIGHT

Sasuke and Naruto are sitting on a bench with their scripts open in their laps. The light of the streetlamps illuminates their scripts.

NARUTO:

(in a high girly voice)

Oh, Satsuki, you're so strong!

SASUKE:

(grunts)

NARUTO:

Carry me to bed, Satsuki!

SASUKE:

(huffs)

NARUTO:

It says sighs, Sasuke, not huffs.

SASUKE:

(sighs in annoyance)

NARUTO:

Right, good. Want to try that scene one

more time?

SASUKE:

(scowls)

Naruto glances towards Shikamaru's and Ino's trailers.

NARUTO:

I wonder how Shikamaru and Ino are doing.

Do you think they're practicing their scenes

too?

INT. SHIKAMARU's ACTOR TRAILER – NIGHT

Shikamaru pulls Ino into his arms. They're both flushed, naked, and glistening with sweat.

SHIKAMARU:

(smirking)

I think we need to practice that again.

INO:

(panting)

We've been PRACTICING for hours. I think we

got it.

Shikamaru flips her onto her back and kisses his way down her body.

SHIKAMARU:

Practice makes perfect.

INO:

(moans)

Oh, practice page 57 again.

Shikamaru kisses her naval, slipping his tongue into her belly button.

INO:

(giggles)

He moves her legs over his shoulders and then kisses his way down. Holding her hips down in his hands, he kisses her, licking and sucking and swirling his tongue into her.

SHIKAMARU:

Don't want to mess our scenes up.

INO:

(keens)

Oh God, More, Please, Shikamaru!

Shikamaru eases off just as she's about to come again.

SHIKAMARU:

My character's name is Hikamitsu.

INO:

(panting)

Oh, Please! Please! Don't STOP!

Smirking, he surges up and thrusts into her. She wraps her legs around his waist and moves her hips with his.

INO:

(moaning)

Oh, Shika! More! Harder!

SHIKAMARU:

(groans)

Oh, God, Ino!

INO:

(moans)

Oh, Yes! YES! YES! SHIAKAMARU!

SHIKAMARU:

(panting)

I'm going to come, Ino – CHO – Whatever your

name is.

INO:

(moans)

Oh, Shikamaru – I mean Hikamaru, Shikamitsu?

- Oh God, Please! Come inside! YES!

SHIKAMARU! YES! YES! SHIKAMARU! OH,

SHIKAMARU!

Shikamaru thrusts into her one last time and comes inside her. He sprawls on top of her, burying his face in her breasts.

INO:

(pants)

We messed up the names again. I think we

need to PRACTICE that some more.

SHIKAMARU:

(smirking)

Yeah. I guess we still need more practice.

Ino flips him onto his back and kisses her way down his chest.

INO:

(smirking)

You know what, Shika? We haven't practiced

the scene that starts on page 35 for a

while.

SHIKAMARU:

Oh, God, yes. Ride me, woman!


	12. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty-Two**

Chess is a miniature version of life. To be successful, you need to be disciplined, assess resources, consider responsible choices and adjust when circumstances change. - Susan Polgar

* * *

**Interlude**

_Gaara shook Yoshino's hand and then he and his brother and sister went upstairs to drop off their packs. Shikamaru lingered in the kitchen doorway where his mother was putting on the kettle for tea._

_She walked over to him with a smile and hugged him tightly. "You look so much like your father."_

_His lips quirked into a smile. "You look the same as always."_

_She stepped back and eyed him. "You've gotten taller. I think you're taller now than Shikaku was."_

_He shrugged. "Maybe."_

_The kettle whistled and his mother turned it off and poured it in the teapot. Now that the niceties were over, he could see from the narrowing of her eyes that the nagging was about to commence. "Are you done running away from us? What happened to you and Ino was terrible, but there's no reason for you to completely write all of Konoha off."_

_He leaned back against the doorway. "I was working as one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi. I wasn't abandoming Konoha, I was protecting the Daimyo of the Fire Country. Asuma and dad would have understood." He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I couldn't stay, mom. You must understand that. I—I _couldn't_."_

_She sighed unhappily and poured herself a cup of tea. "It was difficult for both of you, I know. But she's doing the best she can. You should talk to her, Shikamaru, or at least answer her letters."_

_His eyebrows shot up. "You know that she writes letters?"_

_His mother took a sip of her tea and leaned back against the counter. "She comes over here a couple times of week with the kids. They love seeing their Granny Yoshino. She's waiting for you, Shikamaru. She'll wait forever if you make her."_

_"Mom, please, can we not talk about this?" Shikamaru huffed in annoyance._

_"Are you back to stay then?" she asked._

_Running a hand over the top of his head, Shikamaru glanced at the wall as he said, "The Kazekage offered a position in Suna to me."_

_His mother's fingers tightened around the cup. "You better have denied the offer."_

_"I've accepted it," he said simply._

_He could hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were coming downstairs. He cursed inwardly, not wanting them to hear this argument with his mother._

_"Nara Shikamaru," his mother hollered. "I never knew that you could be such a coward, running from your problems like this!"_

_"I didn't come home for a lecture from you, mother," he growled._

_"At least before you were still in the Land of Fire and now you're talking about going to Suna! Why?" she continued._

_"They need me there," he said quietly._

_"We need you here! I lost my husband and I feel like I'm losing my son. Stay in Konoha, Shikamaru! I'm sure that Naruto would let you be his advisor if you asked."_

_"He did ask me," he mumbled._

_His mother latched onto his arm. "Then why are we even talking about Suna? What's in Suna for you anyway?"_

_Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari lingered in the front hallway, meeting the gaze of Shikamaru and Yoshino. They smiled awkwardly at the two Naras before hurrying out the door to meet up with Naruto and their other friends in Konoha. _

_Yoshino sighed unhappily. "It's always a girl with you, isn't it? You're either running from or running to them."_

_Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise. "Temari? There's nothing… we're not dating."_

_His mother's eyebrows shot up. "But if you're not moving to Suna for the Kazekage's sister, why'd you take the position?"_

_He unhitched himself from the doorway. As he walked out of his mother's house, he said, "Suna needs as much help as Konoha in rebuilding, maybe more. I'm looking for a fresh start, mom. I can find that Suna."_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

She smiled disarmingly at the housekeeper as she stepped into the Tanikage's home. It was a beautiful brick rowhouse along one of the canals. It was a bit small and unremarkable for the house of the kage.

The housekeeper was a dark haired woman in her thirties. Her thick black hair was pulled back into a French twist at the back of her head. Her brown eyes were sharp, but softened when she saw Ino.

"Sayuri-san?" Ino asked holding out her hand.

"You must be Saitou Kikuyo," said the other woman shaking her hand. "We're very glad to have you. Your references were very impressive."

"Thank you," grinned Ino. "I'm very much looking forward to serving Jiton Izo and his family."

A dog jumped out of the door and leapt at Ino's legs, almost knocking her over. Sayuri let out a little chuckle, "I think Drent's excited to have you join the staff too. He'd a partridge hound," Sayuri explained.

Ino grinned and patted the dog on the head, following the other woman inside. It was a pretty dog with a thick white coat with brown markings. It was about as tall as her knees.

As they walked into the kitchen, Ino was surprised to see a little boy sitting at the kitchen table eating his breakfast. He had a mop of dark red hair. When he turned to Ino, she hid her surprise behind a wide smile. He was the very image of the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara!

"Is this the new maid, Sayuri?" he asked in a soft voice to the housekeeper.

Ino stepped forward and held out her hand. "My name's Kikuyo. It's very nice to meet you!"

He smiled shyly at her, accepting her hand. "My name's Araiguma. You're really pretty."

Ino laughed, saying, "Thank you!"

His name was raccoon? That was interesting. Was ROOT getting careless and naming the children with stolen bloodlines after their code names? Though, she probably shouldn't judge. She'd named her sons Karasu, Kurohyou, and Kawauso which meant Crow, Panther, and Otter. Maybe his parents just liked animal names.

Sayuri grinned at the little boy and patted him on the head. "I'm going to show Kikuyo around the house, Araiguma, will you be alright here by yourself?"

The little red haired boy nodded. "Yeah."

Sayuri gestured to the door and walked Ino around the house. "We're a very small staff, just the two of us actually. Izo-sama was just elected Tanikage, so he hasn't had the opportunity to gather an entire household staff."

"I understand," said Ino.

"You're to clean the guest rooms and the main rooms of the house and help me serve dinner. I clean the Tanikage's bedroom and office. We will both do the shopping in the village. Any questions about your duties?"

"No, ma'am," replied Ino.

* * *

**Interlude**

_Someone had placed flowers at the grave, yellow camellias for longing, sweet pea for goodbyes, marigolds for grief. Ino must have put them there. He shook his head in annoyance. She had prattled on about flowers and their meanings so often that he had an annoying Hanakotoba dictionary in his head. Of all the useless things to know._

_He trailed his fingers along the names etched in the stone_

**_Nara Shikaku -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- Nara Yoshino_**

**_Loving husband and father -.-.-.-.- Loving wife and mother_**

_He shouldn't have been so difficult a son for her. He'd run away from Ino, but he'd also run away from his mother. She had needed him too. _

_The stone was cold. It offered little comfort. He wished his heart could be as cold. Then maybe this wouldn't hurt so much._

_Asuma … Dad … Daichi … Choji … Mom_

_What did he have left for him now?_

_He couldn't stay in Konoha, he was glad for the opportunity to go to Suna. Every time he had to look at Ino and her beautiful Uchiha children, he felt a hot rage well up in his chest only to be cooled by the despair in his heart. Suna would be a new beginning for him. He needed a new beginning. He was sick of living this half-life._

_He's spent the last five years trying to get over her. Then as soon as he saw her during Naruto's inauguration any progress he might have made was lost. He thought distance would cool his love for her, but it seemed that had been just wishful thinking. His love for her had been a part of him for so long that he couldn't actually remember a time when he hadn't loved her. But time heals all wounds. Time and distance would cure this wound in his heart. A new beginning, that was what he needed._

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE ELEVEN

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, MAIN STAGE – MORNING

Naruto and Sasuke stand together with Yakusha and Joyuu, the lead actors. Ino and Shikamaru stand a little off to the side, both looking flushed.

Sutanto, the stunt choreographer strides up. He's a tall, well-built man in his early thirties. He wears a white tank top, showing off well-muscled, tattoed arms. Joyuu eyes him appreciatively.

SUTANTO:

I'm going to be working with you on our

fight scenes. It's always a pleasure

working with actors who want to do their own

stunts. It's rare in the movie industry.

YAKUSHA:

(smirks)

I enjoy the challenge.

SUTANTO:

(nods)

I believe that we've worked together in the

past. You're a natural, Yakusha. I'm

looking forward to working with you again.

YAKUSHA:

(winks at Ino)

Got to do right by my fans.

SASUKE:

(rolls eyes)

Sutanto walks over to Ino and looks at her in approval. He grabs her arms, smooths a hand over her stomach.

SUTANTO:

(gasps)

You have remarkable muscle definition.

Ino moves his hand aside as he's about to grab her ass and feel those muscles too.

INO:

(sharply)

Thank you.

SHIKAMARU:

(tensely)

Oi, why don't you quit copping a feel and

show us the choreography?

Sasuke activates his Sharingan as Sutanto moves through the fight scene choreography with an assistant. Naruto nods his head and watches.

NARUTO:

(nodding)

And BAM! And then PUNCH! And then

RASENGAN! And then POOF, SHADOW CLONE!

Double Team! PUNCH, KICK, LEAF HURRICANE!

Ino and Shikamaru roll their eyes at each other as they watch the fight scene and listen to Naruto's side commentary.

Sutanto finishes the choreography and then turns to the actors.

SUTANTO:

(turns)

So that's the fight scene we'll be working

on today. Why don't you pair off and

practice.

Ino and Shikamaru turn to each other and then run through the fight sequence flawlessly. Sutanto gapes at them.

SUTANTO:

(gasps)

I don't think I've seen anyone pick up

choreography so quickly.

SHIKAMARU:

(shrugs)

We're shinobi. We do this for a living.

SUTANTO:

Still that was really impressive.

SHIKAMARU:

(glances at Ino)

I guess if we're done maybe Ino and I should

go PRACTICE our lines a bit more. Ino still

needs a little work on a couple of those

scenes...

INO:

Sure, let's go.

Shikamaru and Ino run off together.

NARUTO:

Sutanto, I've got a couple ideas about how

to make this fight scene more awesome. Can

I show you?

SASUKE:

(rolls eyes)

SUTANTO:

Sure. I'd love to see what you got.

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, HALLWAY OFF THE MAINSTAGE – AFTERNOON

Hisho, the director's assistant, passes a closet, he hears noises coming from it and something hitting against the door like it's trying to get out.

INO:

(keening)

OH, PLEASE, SHIKA! MAKE ME COME! I'M SO

CLOSE!

SHIKAMARU:

(grunting)

INO:

(panting)

MORE! Oh Fuck, Shika! That's the spot!

YES! YES! MORE! YES! YOU'RE A FUCKING

GOD, SHIKAMARU!

SHIKAMARU:

(moaning)

Come for me, Ino!

INO:

(screaming)

YES! SHIKAMARU! OH, SHIKAMARU!

Hisho covers his nosebleed and runs off.


	13. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty-Three**

I have always disliked the fierce competitive spirit embodied in that highly intellectual game. - Albert Einstein

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

Balancing the tray in one hand, she opened the door to the parlor. She walked quickly and quietly over to the men sitting around the glass coffee table in the middle of the room. The tea set clinked on the metal tray as she walked over the carpet.

It was a tasteful room with cream colored walls and accented with elaborate wooden paneling in greens and blues. Huge mirrors almost as tall as her were hung from the walls. Light reflected off them from the windows curtained in thin gossamer. A set of comfortable couches and chairs sat in the middle of the room surrounding a low glass table.

"I can understand your concern," said Shikamaru. "After the bloodline massacres years ago in Konoha and in Kiri, anyone would be anxious about adding their name to a list of ninjas with kekkei genkai and bloodlines."

"And yet the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages have passed this law and require all the minor villages to comply," stated the Tanikage.

Jiton Izo leaned back in the tall wing backed chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He was a tall and powerfully built man with a rough mane of dark hair and hard dark eyes. He dressed simply, but Ino noted when first serving him that he wore a great deal of metal jewelry.

There were bangles on his arms whose sharp edges were folded in on each other by the small joints on the bracelets. He also wore a gaudy steel necklace that had spikes sticking out at regular intervals. The Tanikage could use Magnet Release, so Ino assumed that he kept those particular trappings as added weapons in addition to his kunai holster and weapons pouch.

Shikamaru sat in the adjacent love seat with his arms resting along the back of the couch and one leg crossed over the other. He looked the very image of power and prestige.

She'd arrived in the Tanikage's house only a day after Shikamaru. She calmed her breathing. She wanted to rush into his arms and either kiss him senseless or beat him senseless. Kami, the bastard had knocked her up and then run away to Suna! But she was determined to not let it bother her. They'd both been in Izo's home for a week. She wondered what Shikamaru had found out so far.

Shikamaru shook his head and drawled, "It's the price you must pay to acquire the friendship of the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages. As a new village, you'll greatly benefit from our support both militarily and economically."

She wasn't sure why he believed the ROOT commanders in Tani would respond to this persona. She'd only seen him three times in the week that he'd been in Tanigakure. Most of his time was consumed with ambassadorial matters and most of her time was consumed with cleaning up the Tanikage's damn house.

She set the tray down in front of them and poured out the tea. She offered the cups to each of them with a bow.

"Tanikage-sama," she said holding out the cup and saucer to the man.

"Thank you, Kikuyo," the Tanikage said. Addressing Shikamaru, he continued, "The jonin council will vote on the issue, but I expect that they'll be some debate."

Shikamaru's expression was one of polite disinterest as he accepted his cup from her. "Nara-sama," she said.

Shikamaru accepted the cup, brushing his fingers over hers. He didn't even bother looking at her. Leaning back, he said, "If it makes you feel any better. As a ninja possessing the Nara clan bloodline, my name is also on the list and any children I have will also be listed."

"Yes, very comforting," the Tanikage mumbled, closing his eyes as he took a sip of the tea.

Shikamaru's eyes pinned her in his dark gaze and she trembled under his scrutiny. They swept down her figure lingering at her belly where his child was growing. She felt naked under his penetrating stare.

All of this happened in the second that the Tanikage's eyes shut as he took a sip of the tea. Ino bowed and hurried out of the room. As she was walking down the hall, she put a hand to her belly, which was fluttering with nervousness. It was butterflies; the baby wasn't old enough to be moving around in her womb yet.

* * *

**Interlude**

_He stared down at her flushed and naked on his bed. She was sleeping soundly already; she must have been exhausted. She was a mess: her hair hadn't been washed in days, the circles under her eyes looked like bruises. There was a mess between her thighs: sweat, her arousal, his semen, and … a little bit of her blood. _

_He felt the shame well up in his chest. _

_He had been so impatient that he had taken her before she was ready; he'd hurt her. Her eyes had been glassy; he shouldn't have used jutsu on her like that. He'd forced her to come so hard and so often that she had been in shock. There were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. Uchiha Itachi's sons were in the hospital; they might not survive. _

_And all Shikamaru cared about was pounding her like an animal?_

_He stumbled up from the bed and went to the bathroom to clean himself. After he'd put his clothes back on, he paused in the bedroom to stare at her. _

_He was supposed to be getting over her. She'd so easily broken his resolve, offering herself to him like that. He shouldn't have slept with her. This was a mistake. He'd made up his mind to go to Suna; he didn't need her and this complicating things._

_She'd made her choice all the years ago. She didn't love him; she loved Uchiha Itachi. She gave him her virginity and she bore his children. She'd devoted her life to the children. In turn, she'd seduced and manipulated Shikamaru so that she could better protect Uchiha Itachi's children. He knew that she'd been genjutsued into some of it, but she'd been clever enough to break the genjutsu when it was convenient for her after her plans had fallen conveniently into place. _

_He was already late for his rendezvous with the Kazekage and his siblings. He told them to go ahead while he said goodbye to his parents and then had somehow ended up falling into bed with Ino. _

_Sighing in annoyance, he walked up to the bed and shook her shoulder, trying to ignore how beautifully provocative she looked sleeping on his bed. _

_She rolled over and muttered with her eyes still closed, "Did you have a nightmare, sweetheart? Do you want to sleep in mommy's bed?"_

_He pursed his lips in annoyance. "It's Shikamaru, Ino. I need to leave."_

_"Shikamaru? I'll write you a letter. You told me to write you letters," she mumbled, shifting onto her side._

_He smoothed his hand down her arm and tried again, "I'll be leaving now for Suna. Goodbye."_

_"Write a letter," she repeated sleepily, rolling onto her back. "You can get in bed with mommy, honey."_

_He huffed in annoyance. Troublesome woman wouldn't even wake up so he could talk to her. Maybe he'd write a note for her like she'd been muttering in her sleep._

* * *

**Haruno Sakura**

After making one last notation on the paper, Sakura stretched her arms over her head. Shizune had been doing research about the body's reaction to certain heavy metal toxins and the appropriate antidotes to cure the poisoning. Shizune had finished the paper and asked Sakura to read through it before she presented it at the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages Conference later in the year. The Conference would be the first of its kind, one of Naruto's brainchildren. It would help the spread of knowledge among the countries particularly concerning medical ninjutsu.

Reiko let out a whine from Sakura's lap. Sakura had become paranoid after the kidnapping of the Uchiha and Senju children about a month ago and didn't want to leave any of children left unattended. Naruto said she was being paranoid, that he had his best people on it. Nonetheless, she didn't want anything to happen to Masato or Reiko.

"Mommy, I'm bored," the toddler protested.

"I know, honey," she said. "I'm almost done and then we can play. Mommy needs to work now."

"Why can't I play by myself?" Reiko protested.

Sakura ruffled the girl's soft pink hair. "Because I'd be lonely."

The little girl pouted but sat back against her mother without protest, going back to her coloring book. She and Masato had been frightened by the kidnapping as well. Masato had woken up so many nights screaming; he was haunted by his memories of the events. He hadn't seen any of the deaths, the kidnapping, and the fighting first hand, but he'd unfortunately been outside Choji's house when Choji, Sumire, and Yoshino's bodies were found and they discovered that Karasu, Kawauso, and Takara had been taken.

She glanced at the front door of the townhouse. It was early afternoon, so Masato would be dropped off soon. She would usually pick her son up from the academy, but Naruto was really excited to be doing it today. He was speaking at the academy and would have the time to walk the kids home.

They'd all had a scare last week when the Uchiha triplets walked home by themselves. After Sasuke had finished screaming at them, he grounded them. They'd screamed and yelled right back:

_Sasuke wasn't their father! They didn't care what he thought! Sasuke was a worthless worm, forcing their helpless, sweet, beautiful mother to accept a dangerous mission all by herself with only the help of a strange man who had designs on her!_

Sakura didn't think she'd ever heard Ino described as sweet and helpless, though it was probably true that Shikamaru had designs on Ino.

Sakura hadn't been present for the fireworks, but Naruto had. When they laid together that night after making love and cooing over her baby bump, he regaled her with the story. His voices and impressions were spot on.

Sakura smiled at the clamor of rowdy voices outside. It seemed that the kids would be having a play date at their house today.

Reiko squirmed off her lap and ran to the front door.

"I knew that you couldn't do tree walking, Masato!" laughed one of the Uchiha triplets from outside. It was probably Kurohyou. He loved giving Masato a hard time. Their relationship was a little like hers and Ino's.

"I can too!" her son protested. "I got almost the whole way up the tree. I'd like to see you do better!"

Sakura smiled to herself. Masato, thank Kami, had inherited her skill with chakra control. He didn't have the chakra reserves that Naruto did, but he would be a great shinobi one day.

Sakura hurried to the front door after the toddler, who was looking out the window enraptured.

"I bet I can get farther up the tree than you can!" yelled the Uchiha boy.

"Guys, there's no need to fight," called Yamato's daughter, Takara. She was trying to play peacemaker, a lot of good it would do her.

The laughing voices of the children faded into the distance. It was amusing watching Naruto herd the children to the park nearby to do tree walking exercises.

"Why don't we just practice our tree walking exercise," said Naruto from outside. "You guys are all doing very well with it."

"That sounds like fun!" giggled Kurenai's daughter Asuka. "I'll race you, Karasu."

The toddler turned to her, her blue eyes beseeching, "Mom, I wanna play with Masato."

Sakura smiled. She reached down and picked up the girl, closing and locking the door behind her before running in the direction of the children's voices.

In her arms, Reiko giggled, "Faster, mommy! Let's run faster!" The little girl held out her arms and closed her eyes as the breeze ruffled Reiko's bubblegum pink hair.

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE TWELVE

EXT. KONOHA, AROUND JONIN TEAM'S CAMPFIRE – EVENING

Anko and Genma sit against a log gossiping while Kakashi reads his book.

ANKO:

Yeah, she was just as surprised as he was.

GENMA:

But I thought that all active kunoichi had

to have that birth control seal activated.

Did she deactivate it or something or forget

to get it replaced?

ANKO:

(shakes her head)

No. You know how the seal wears out in like

two years so we replace it once a year?

GENMA:

Yeah.

ANKO:

Shizune said that the seal can also become

worn down from too much activity.

GENMA

So like from too much sex?

ANKO:

Yeah. That's what Shizune told her.

GENMA:

So she and her boyfriend had so much sex

that they wore out her birth control seal.

ANKO:

Yeah.

Kakashi giggles to himself over his book. Genma and Anko glance over at him with raised eyebrows.

GENMA:

Oi, Kakashi. Did you know that they're

making Makeout Tactics into a movie?

KAKASHI:

(stutters)

M-Makeout Tactics?

ANKO:

(nods)

I think I saw in the paper that the director

of A Beautiful Genjutsu is directing it.

GENMA:

Why would a famous director want to have his

name put on a porno?

KAKAKSHI:

F-Firuma is the director?

ANKO:

I also heard a rumor that he's looking for

actual shinobi and kunoichi to play some of

the shinobi and kunoichi parts.

GENMA:

Do you think he'll come to Konoha for

auditions?

ANKO:

I hope so. I would love to star in that

Movie.

Kakashi leaps up from the campfire.

KAKASHI:

What are we waiting for! Let's get this

mission over with so we can audition for

Makeout Tactics!

GENMA:

(chuckles)

Aye, Aye, Captain!

ANKO:

(cheers)

Makeout Tactics, here we come!


	14. Chapter 64

**A/N: A shout out to N****nereus who helped to inspire the interludes in this chapter! Thanks, Nnereus!**

**Also, you'll notice that I've been including the scenes from my Makeout Tactics ShikaIno story at the end of the chapters in this story. Someone kindly pointed out that because Makeout Tactics is in screenplay format it's technically against the rules. I've been moving it from it's place as a separate story into sort of omake's at the ends of these chapters. I haven't gotten into any trouble about it, but I don't want to attract any undo attention.  
**

**Chapter Sixty-Four**

Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

* * *

**Interlude**

_Sakura and Ino hurried over to Madam BenTen's Tarot Card tent. A Suna kunoichi wearing an elaborate turban greeted them and then led then through the tent to meet the fortune teller. The woman with her brown hair done up in twin buns winked at them. "Would you like me to read your fortunes?"_

_Ino laughed and sat down in front of her. "We just wanted to stop by and say hi!" _

_Sakura beamed. "We were so excited to hear that you were in Konoha!"_

_TenTen winked at the pink haired medic. "Well it's International Shinobi Day and Naruto's Inauguration! Of course I would be here! We wanted to come early and enjoy the celebrations."_

_Ino grinned and plopped down on the chair in front of TenTen. "Where are you staying then?"_

_TenTen shared a glance with the turban wearing woman who joined them in the back. "The hotels have been booked up for years it seems. Lee's letting us stay in his apartment."_

_Ino turned to the Suna kunoichi. "Where are my manners?! Hi, I'm Yamanaka Ino and this is Haruno Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

_The other woman shook her hand and said, "Maki. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."_

_Sakura sat down next to Ino. "How's your prosthetic, TenTen? I wish that you had come to Konoha for treatment. We've got the premier facilities."_

_TenTen shrugged. "I manage alright."_

_Sakura leaned over the table and looked at TenTen's prosthetic. "It's a shame that we couldn't reattach…"_

_TenTen held out her prosthetic right hand at her friends. "The shrapnel blew my arm to pieces, Sakura. There wasn't anything that you could have done. Medical ninjutsu can't fix everything."_

_Sakura felt so guilty about the whole affair. _She'd_ been the one who recommended the mission. There had been a lead on ROOT. However, the mission couldn't be completed by Konoha without attracting unwanted notice. The lead came from an anonymous source from within the Wind Daimyo's walls. A Konoha ninja could not enter the home of the Wind Daimyo without all of the visas and formal introductions. Naturally, they could have just broken in and looked around, but if the mission went wrong it would have disrupted the already fragile relationships between the Five Great Allied Shinobi Villages._

_She recommended to Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato that they could have their Suna allies investigate instead. High ranking Suna shinobi would be allowed entrance with much less notice or question. TenTen and Kankuro were the two ninjas selected for the task. She hadn't expected it to be a trap. No one realized that the mission was a set up until the bomb went off in the throne room. Kankuro threw himself in front of the bomb to protect the Daimyo, but TenTen was closer to the bomb. She lost her arm._

_No one knew where the intelligence leak came from. Was it from a department in Konoha? Was it from a department in Suna? Was it a setup from someone in the Wind Daimyo's palace? If Konoha had gone on the mission, war might have erupted between Suna and Konoha. _

_Ino interrupted the tense silence saying, "Your prosthetic looks really good, TenTen. Who did you have design it for you?"_

_Sakura couldn't be sure, but she thought that she saw the other kunoichi's cheeks color when she said, "Kankuro was the mechanic. He's leading the puppet and prosthetic corps in Suna now. He designed my arm with several fun enhancements."_

_Sakura wiggled her eyebrows. "I hope that you thanked him properly…"_

_"Or improperly-" Ino interrupted._

_TenTen coughed, "So who wants their fortune read? Ino?"_

_Ino grinned at the other girl. "Can you do mine? Once again for old time's sake."_

_ "What question would you like to ask the deck?"_

_Ino bit her lip. "Will things ever work out between me and Shikamaru?"_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

Her rooms were on the third story of the house, the servant's quarters. The Housekeeper, Sayuri lived in her own home, so Ino was alone in the servant's wing of the house. She was glad to find that her room wasn't bugged. It appeared that Shikamaru's room was the only room being watched.

She'd gotten up early that morning. Her stomach was rioting against her now that she was eight weeks pregnant. As she gargled and brushed her teeth to rid her mouth of the foul taste of vomit she stared into the mirror. The same blue eyes, the same pale face, the same blonde hair greeted her.

She eyed her belly critically. She hadn't gained too much weight yet, but she could see the baby bump. Shikamaru would be in Tani for another month. She planned to head back to Konoha soon after he did. Luckily, the knee length black dress and white apron weren't too form fitting. She could hide her belly for another month with these clothes.

When she had the triplets, she started to get noticeably fuller around four months, so she had worn her flak jacket, which did wonders at disguising pregnancies. Who would have thought! But she had been having multiples because of those fertility drugs ROOT had given her. This was a single pregnancy.

It was going to be difficult to explain to the triplets that she was having a baby. It would no doubt confuse them that this baby didn't have the same father as they did. They worshiped the memory of their father; Uchiha Sasuke was definitely the cause of his adoration. She didn't doubt that Sasuke had a shrine up to Itachi somewhere in his house. Karin told her that he had a picture of his brother that he'd kiss every night before going to bed. It wouldn't have surprised her in the least.

Would the triplets be upset that she hadn't been faithful to the memory of their father? They had such a glamourized perception of Itachi. Shikamaru would always be her first and her last love, but her relationship with Itachi always gave her pause. He was so kind, so gentle, and so noble. He was heartbreakingly beautiful. Itachi put her on a pedestal and treated her like a goddess, like a princess. He hoarded every bit of attention she gave him.

Shikamaru challenged her and wasn't afraid to put her in her place. Shikamaru had made her strive to be a better kunoichi, a better woman, a better friend. He had always felt uncomfortable with her tears, but tried his best to comfort her when she sought him out, at least before she'd ruined their relationship so thoroughly.

To think in seven months she'd bring another child into her strange family situation, Shikamaru's child. She didn't even know if Shikamaru wanted to be involved in this child's life. She sighed unhappily as she brushed her short hair. She wasn't going to hold out hope that Shikamaru would be a father for this child. She needed to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

She felt alright now to head downstairs, the sickness had passed. No sense avoiding the inevitable, right?

Sayuri was in the kitchen cooking up from breakfast when she arrived. Ino smiled at her as she walked in. "Good morning, Sayuri-san."

The dark haired woman smiled softly as Ino walked in. "Good morning, Kikuyo. Could work on the coffee? I've already taken out the water and orange juice."

"I'd be glad to," she replied.

Ino rummaged around, taking out the platters to serve the buffet style breakfast for the family and their guest, Shikamaru. She started brewing the coffee and placed creamer and sugar on a platter. Reaching into one of the high cabinets, she grabbed the coffee carafe and filled it up.

Ino put a hand on Sayuri's shoulder. "I'll take in the coffee now. I'll help you bring everything out when I get back."

Walking into the dining room, she saw that the whole family was assembled at the table. Izo sat at the head of the table with his lover, Dokuno Yukiko, sitting at his right. Their older son, Manguusu, sat at his left and their younger son Araiguma sat next to his mother. Shikamaru sat next to Manguusu.

Manguusu was showing his father how he could levitate the spoons on the table using his Magnet Style kekkei genkai. Manguusu was seven years old and a very talented shinobi. He'd inherited his thick dark hair from his father and his father's kekkei genkai. Izo patted him on the back, proudly.

"Good morning, Jiton-sama, Dokuno-sama, Nara-sama, Manguusu-kun, Araiguma-kun," she said kindly as she walked in, placing the platter on the table.

"Good morning, Kikuyo," said Araiguma excitedly.

"Good morning, Araiguma-kun. Are you excited for school this morning?" asked Ino as she placed the sugar and creamer on the table.

Ino started at Izo's seat to pour the coffee. The little red haired boy sat up excitedly, "Mom said-mom said that you can take us to the academy this morning!"

Ino smiled down at Yukiko as she poured the other woman's coffee. Yukiko was a beautiful woman, petite with a riot of bright red hair. She smiled at Ino, but the smile didn't reach her brown eyes. She said, "We'll be very busy with Nara-sama today, so I won't be able to take the boys myself."

"It would be my pleasure," said Ino. She stopped in front of Shikamaru to pour his coffee.

"Thank you," he said.

As she went back to the kitchen, she passed Sayuri taking up the bacon, eggs, and sausages in to the family.

"The toast," said Sayuri as they passed each other.

Ino nodded and hurried to the kitchen to get away from the smell of the eggs. Uh, eggs. Eggs were the enemy. She put a hand to her stomach. She was starting to feel nauseous again.

Not good.

It smelled like eggs in the kitchen now too.

Uh, Eggs.

Ino picked up the platter of toast and hurried out of the room. She took deep breath as soon as she got into the hallway, to calm her stomach. She was glad that no one around to see her little scene. She would slip away after she delivered the toast. What could be her excuse?

Her purse!

She would need her purse if she was taking the boys to the academy.

She dropped off the toast, made her excuses and then bounded upstairs. She reached the bathroom just in time and threw up what little was left in her stomach.

Oh, why did there have to be eggs?

After her stomach had quieted down and she'd grabbed her purse, she met the children downstairs.

* * *

**Interlude**

_TenTen smiled mysteriously at them. She opened up a cherry wood box on the table and pulled out a small bundle wrapped in red silk cloth. She carefully took out her deck and began to shuffle. She flipped the cards and picked out one. She held it out for Ino. "I've selected the Queen of Cups as your signifier. Your question involves matters of the heart after all."_

_On the card was the beautiful illustration of a woman in white sitting on a throne holding a chalice. TenTen gathered the deck together shuffled. After cutting the deck into three piles, she reassembled the deck so the pile on the bottom became the top._

_TenTen flipped over the first card. A man and a woman stood together in the forefront each holding a chalice. "This card covers you. It's the subject of the question. It is the two of cups reversed: rejection, a parting, unrequited love, distrust, infidelity, a misunderstanding. You're concerned about the separation from Shikamaru." _

_She flipped over the next card in the deck and laid it across the two of cups. It was a young man with his hair blowing in the wind holding a sword in both hands. "This crosses you. It shows the nature of the obstacles in your path. It is the page of swords. You're very aware of the injustices of the world and life's limitations. Gossip and rumors may have paid a role in your separation from Shikamaru or perhaps unexpected news is on the way."_

_"Do you think this could also represent the triplets?" wondered Ino. _

_TenTen nodded. "The Page of Swords here might also indicate a person, which could very well be the triplets."_

_As she reached or the next card, TenTen said, "This is behind you, the past influences affecting you. It is the Hierophant reversed: bad advice, dogmatism, scandal, misrepresentation, extremism."_

_Ino felt a chill. "Danzo," she said simply. He was the cause of all this trouble. If not for Danzo none of this would have happened. _

_TenTen flipped over the fourth card. It depicted a woman standing next to a nine gold coins arrayed around her like stepping stones. "This is behind you. These are influences that are passing out of existence. The nine of pentacles: self-reliance, stability, material comfort. You have been self-sufficient, but you hadn't felt complete. Something is missing."_

_"Material comfort," said Ino with surprise. "I didn't realize Yamanaka flowers was doing so well."_

_TenTen shrugged. "I could be misinterpreting. Basically what the nine of pentacles is saying is that you've been comfortable, but you've been alone."_

_"I suppose," said Ino. _

_"The next card is what crowns you. It represents goals, options, opportunities, the best possible outcome." TenTen flipped over the card. Six swords stood in the bow of a boat while a man sit in the stern, propelling the boat. "It is six of swords: a reconciliation, travel, a bridge of troubled water. You will be leaving behind the stress of the situation with Shikamaru. I'm interpreting this to mean that you and Shikamaru will be reconciled."_

_Ino crossed her arms over her chest. "You mentioned travel. Shikamaru's been out of Konoha for five years. You don't think this could mean that he'll continue traveling?"_

_TenTen glanced down at the card. "It's a possibility. But I'm interpreting this positively. I think that this represents reconciliation and brighter days ahead rather than a continued separation."_

_"That makes sense," nodded Ino._

_TenTen flipped over the next card. "This is before you. It is events, people, situations that are coming in the near future. It's the seven of swords. In this context, I would say that it has something to do with a new mission or a promotion. The seven of swords implies spying and espionage."_

_"A mission," muttered Ino to herself. "Maybe I'll be officially reinstated as an kunoichi of Konoha."_

_Sakura gripped Ino's hand excitedly. "That's good news, right!"_

_Flipping over the next card, TenTen said, "This is your card. It represents where you stand on the issue. It reveals your state of mind, your secret wishes, how you see the situation." A woman sat in front of the ocean, blindfolded, with two swords held crossed in front of her chest. "It is the two of swords. The two of swords represents an impasse, delay, waiting, a difficult decision, a precarious balance. You feel like you're on the edge of a precipice and you don't know what to do. The two of swords tells me that you need to confront your problem head."_

_"An impasse?" wondered Ino. She hadn't really considered that before, but she had been pulled in two different directions. She so desperately wanted to go to Shikamaru and try to reconcile with him, but she couldn't leave behind her children for any length of time. _

_"This is your environment and those around you. This represents the opinions of family and friends involved in the matter. It is the King of Wands. In this case, the card represents a man in your life: Shikamaru. He's a decisive leader, an honest, trustworthy and devoted man."_

_"This is your hopes, fears, and expectations. This is what you fear and what you expect from the situation. It is the Lovers card." A man and a woman stood together in the middle of the card with an angel above them. The man looked at the woman while the woman looked at the angel. Tenten placed it above the King of Wands. "The Lovers card speaks of a mutual love and a well-suited couple. This is what your heart desires. It also implies that you have an important choice to make."_

_"This is what will come. This symbolizes the most likely future result. It is the six of cups. A love will be rekindled, harmony restored."_

_TenTen looked down at the cards in the spread. "With the two cards from the suit of cups, two sixes in the spread, and the Lovers card, it's clear that love, romance, and relationships are the issue here. We also have four swords in the spread which represent not only the mind and but also conflict, struggle, and danger."_

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE THIRTEEN

INT. MAKEUP TRAILER - MORNING

Kesho, the makeup artist is a pretty woman with a short pixie haircut. Her hair is dyed bright. Ino sits in the makeup chair while the other woman applies her makeup. Shikamaru and Naruto are sitting in the chairs waiting to have their makeup done. Shikamaru's sleeping and Naruto's eating his breakfast. Sasuke's still getting his hair done.

KESHO:

You look tired, Ino. You should try to get

more sleep. I don't usually have to use

this much under eye concealer.

INO:

(yawns)

I'll try.

SHIKAMARU:

(snores)

KESHO:

You've been here four weeks? You look like

you haven't slept in MONTHS.

INO:

(yawns)

I feel like I haven't.

Kesho pats the blonde girl on the shoulder. She smiles at the other girl.

KESHO:

It's great that you're so dedicated. But

you shouldn't work so hard.

INO:

(blushes)

Want to make sure that I have my scenes just

right.

Naruto stands up and walked over, finishing his Danish. He looks at Ino in the mirror.

NARUTO:

You should practice with Sasuke and I

sometime, Ino. Sasuke doesn't really have

any lines, so I have to do more of the

talking. How are your scenes with Shikamaru

coming along?

Ino blushes bright red.

INO:

I'm still getting some of the lines mixed

up.

NARUTO:

And I have a scene with you and Shikamaru

later. We should practice that.

INO:

We do?

NARUTO:

Yeah, like on page 75 or something.

INO:

Is it a threesome?

NARUTO:

(blushes)

No! We're just talking about our love lives

over cocktails and Shikamaru stops by to

spirit you away.

INO:

Oh, okay. Yeah, we can practice that.

NARUTO:

(mutters to himself)

Threesome?


	15. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty-Five**

I believe in magic ... There is magic in the creative faculty such as great poets and philosophers conspicuously possess, and equally in the creative chessmaster. - Emanuel Lasker

* * *

**Nara Shikamaru**

He slouched down the street with his hands in his pockets. The canal engineers were giving him the tour. He was only half listening. They droned on and on about locks and tides and towing lines and taxes on houseboats.

Most of his attention was on the small crowd gathering by the ninja academy as the children got picked up from school. There weren't very many children at the academy. It was strange how few children there were. A new shinobi village should have more children studying to be shinobi.

Shikamaru had already theorized that Tani was the "conception center" – for lack of a better phrase – of ROOT's kekkei genkai and bloodline stealing operation. With a thriving red light district, it was the perfect cover.

Though it wouldn't make sense for the children to be raised here as well. ROOT trained their soldiers to be emotionless drones. It would difficult to accomplish that in a thriving minor shinobi village open to the Five Great Shinobi villages. ROOT must have been sending the children with stolen bloodlines to another location to be trained, a secret location.

Ino stood there by the academy in her knee length black dress. Izo's youngest son ran up to Ino and jumped into her arms. She smiled happily and lifted him up into her arms. Winking at Manguusu to follow, the blonde haired woman walked them back to the Tanikage's residence.

He hadn't seen Ino interact much with her own sons, but she mentioned them frequently in her letters. She was just as good with the Tanikage's sons as she seemed to be with her own. The youngest, Araiguma, was particularly fond of Ino.

Shikamaru's expression softened as he watched Ino giggling and chatting with the boys as they walked home. It brought to mind his child growing inside her. He'd always wanted to start a family with her - at least he had before the ROOT incident.

The canal engineers ended their tour at the marina and Shikamaru watched the canal boats and sail boats at dock together with them. His mind was still half consumed with thoughts of Ino and their baby. The damned woman was making it difficult for him to focus on the mission at hand.

"I haven't noticed many large merchant vessels," said Shikamaru to the engineers. "Are they too large to sail down the canals? I remember reading somewhere that the trade between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Water is a major part of the economy. It contributes to something like 60% of the GDP of The Land of Rivers. There don't seem to be the vessels to support that. "

One of the engineers nodded to him and replied, "We have several merchant fleets that trade with other Lands and villages. The Nakamura family own the largest merchant fleet in Tani. We didn't see then docked today, so I can only assume that they are out of the port on voyages."

"Very good," said Shikamaru. "I would very much like to meet the Nakamura family. I've always been very interested in the shipping business."

He had another reason to meet the Nakamura family. He'd reviewed the business's financial statements last week and noticed an inconsistency on their balance sheet. Their revenue stream seemed to be overstated, as if they were receiving income from another source that they weren't reporting.

"We'll arrange an introduction for you sometime next week. I believe their son, the captain of their flag ship, should be back in port next week. I'm sure you would like to meet him too."

* * *

**Interlude**

_He put up the protective seal so that no one would be able to steal his belongings and then took a kunai and nicked his palm. He had the distinct feeling that he was doing something foolish, but Jiraiya had written about this in the Fuuinjutsu tome that Naruto had asked him to read through so that Shikamaru could teach Naruto the Hirashin._

_Was it a metaphor or was it true? When you used the Summoning Jutsu without first having a contract signed, would it really take you to the animal clan best suited to you?_

**_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_**_ he called out._

_There was a huge puff of smoke around him and then he felt the strange weightlessness similar to the Hirashin. He landed with surprising grace in the middle of a forest._

_He could hear a brook babbling nearby and the gentle melody of the wind blowing through the trees. Glancing around, he was surprised to see no sign of any summons. "Hello?" he called._

_He walked towards the brook; the dry leaves crackling underfoot. The stones by the river had been smoothed by the running water. They slipped under his feet as he approached the water and crouched down to wash his face. Animals usually gathered by water sources, but he still saw no creature._

_Seeing his reflection in the clear water of the steam, he examined the forest reflected back at him. He first noticed their reflection in the water, a white fox and a red fox. He wondered why they hadn't made their presence known. Where they testing him?_

_Two could play at that game. _

_Fingering the special kunai carefully between his fingers, he eyed the position of the creatures high up on a branch behind him. Whirling around, he threw it towards them, aiming for the place where the branch was steadiest, right next to the trunk of the tree._

_The two foxes startled in surprise, staring at the kunai sticking out of the wood next to them. The little white fox jeered, "Your aim's not very good, human."_

_Shikamaru flashed to the spot where the kunai landed, appearing next to them. The little red female fox gasped, "How did you get here so fast?"_

_Shikamaru pulled the kunai out of the bark and pocketed it. "Just a fun little trick that I picked up."_

_The little white male fox narrowed its eyes at him. "How did you get to the Torikku Forest, human?"_

_"How does one get anywhere," Shikamaru mused._

_The little red fox settled her head in her paws. "Inari-sama is going to want to meet you. We haven't had a human sign our summoning contract in two hundred of years and all of a sudden two pop out of thin air." _

_Shikamaru leaned against the trunk of the tree. "I believe Uzumaki Naruto walked into Torikku Forest, nothing quite as dramatic as appearing out of thin air."_

_The red fox looked at him curiously. "Who are you?"_

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

One of the difficulties of being undercover was completing your investigations while maintaining your cover. Another was passing on information to any allies without arousing suspicion. She hadn't figured out a way to speak to Shikamaru alone. It was much too risky for the both of them. She'd been leaving clues for him in the bouquets around the house. She hoped that he'd understood them. She hoped the others didn't notice them.

She went to the market that morning to see her Uncle Kazaguruma and Auntie Chuorippu. The elderly couple was in town again to sell their tulips. She tried to be there every Thursday to visit them and keep up the pretense. Ino bought four bouquets of tulips: a delicate bubblegum pink like the color of Sakura's hair, a deep royal purple, a beautiful orange and yellow striped variety, and a deep scarlet the color of blood.

"Kikuyo," said Uncle Kazaguruma, "we were so impressed to hear that you've begun to work for the Tanikage and his family. That's simply remarkable!"

Auntie Chuorippu hugged Ino tightly and said, "It's such an honor to think that my tulips will be decorating the home of the Tanikage!"

Ino giggled. "You and Uncle grow the most beautiful tulips. The Tanikage's assistant, Dokuno Yukiko, admired the bouquets that I bought last week. I'll be putting the red ones in her room."

Auntie Chuorippu pulled away from Ino, sliding her hands around Ino's waist. She pinched Ino teasingly. "You've gained a little weight, Kikuyo. Are they feeding you better at the Tanikage's home?"

Ino put her hands over the old woman's hands, feeling a chill of fear. How could they have noticed so soon? "How you like to tease me, Auntie Chuorippu."

Another customer came around and Ino was able to say her goodbyes and slip away. She didn't want to linger for further questioning. She hoped that Auntie Churippu had only been teasing. She didn't think her pregnancy had become noticeable. She was barely two months along!

Her second stop was the Nakamura residence. She knocked on the entrance to the kitchens. It wouldn't have been proper for a housemaid like her to enter through the front door. A housemaid with sandy brown hair and friendly smile opened the door. This was Yamamoto Naomi, Saitou Kikuyo's very best friend. Naomi had really only fallen into that role because she'd been unfortunate enough to fall into Ino's path. Ino had played around in her mind as well as the minds of Gosho and Tsuma Nakamura to ensure that her cover story would hold up to some scrutiny.

They were good people. She didn't know Gosho very well, but she had spent a lot of time with Tsuma and Naomi. She'd spent three weeks here learning how to be a housemaid from Naomi. Ino would not have successfully infiltrated the Tanikage's residence without the skills she gained here.

Ino hugged the other woman tightly. Naomi was petite and curvy where Ino was willowy and tall. Naomi's hazel eyes lit up. "Kikuyo! It's so good to see you! Would you like to come in? I can make us a cup of tea."

Ino followed the other woman inside, placing her basket on the large oak table in the kitchen. She leaned against the massive oak table, saying with a grin, "I was downtown for the market and wanted to stop in and say hello."

"It's so good to see you!" Naomi said. "I'm going to tell Tsuma that you're here. She was saying the other day that she'd missed seeing you around the house."

Ino brightened at that. She fished through her basket and took out the bouquet of pink tulips. "I was going to ask you to give her these, but I guess I can do it myself."

Kikuyo nodded. "Did you know, Kikuyo, that Shosen is back from his voyage? I can't remember if you started working before or after he departed."

She shook her head, moving her fingers along the soft petals of the tulips. "I never did get a chance to meet Shosen. I think he left on his voyage before I started working at the Nakamura's."

Naomi furrowed her brow and nodded. "I think you might be right. Well he just got in yesterday and he's already got visitors! Someone important from one the Five Great Shinobi Villages, a man named Nara Shikamaru. Can you believe it?"

Ino was about to answer when a harried looking woman hurried into the kitchen. "Naomi! What are we serving with the tea? Do we have any of those nice scones you made yesterday? I can't believe that I have the ambassador to the Five Great Shinobi Villages sitting on my sofa!" She turned to Ino and did a double take. "Kikuyo? Kikuyo! How are you?"

Ino beamed at the older woman and hugged her tightly. Tsuma was a woman in her mid-fifties. Her rich black hair was shot through with gray and done up in a French twist. She wore a grey wool skirt and a bright pink cardigan over her blouse. "I'm fine, Tsuma-sama. I was at the flower market and wanted to come say hello. I'm sorry to catch you both at a busy time.." She glanced down at the flowers. "Oh, these are for you!"

While Tsuma gushed over the flowers,Ino was able to talk her way into helping Naomi serve Shikamaru, Gosho, Tsuma, and Shosen. Tsuma hurried back to the living with the vase of tulips, thanking Ino profusely.

She followed behind Naomi, holding the tray of scones. She glanced along the walls of the Nakamura house as she went along. The merchant family decorated very differently from the Tanikage and his family. Jirou Izo used sculptures of beaten bronze, iron, and steel. The Nakamura's walls were hung with watercolors of the stormy sea and placid sunsets.

The Nakamura family was chatting amicably with Shikamaru when they walked in. Shikamaru sat comfortable on the couch next to Shosen. He was in the middle of his dissertation about merchant capitalism. He and his encyclopedic memory were really so ridiculous sometimes. "…surprised when I read that the Land of Rivers was such a huge center for shipbuilding. Though, I suppose the plentiful source of timber and skilled laborers would enable that industry to really thrive in Tanigakure. Kirigakure needs to import most of its wood to make ships."

Gosho nodded. "That's right, Nara-sama. We enable the trade of timber between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water and receive a handsome commission in return."

Shikamaru made a noise of agreement and continued, "The thriving economy of the Land of Rivers and Tanigakure is one of the reasons that the Five Great Shinobi Villages are looking to ally with Tanigakure. We will both benefit from this alliance."

"Ah," said Tsuma with a smile, "Here are Naomi and Kikuyo with the tea."

Shikamaru glanced up and did a double take when he saw Ino. Ino bowed and said, "Nara-sama."

Tsuma smiled and sat down next to her husband. "Did you know, Nara-sama, that Kikuyo used to work for us before she took a job at the Tanikage's residence? We were sorry to see her go, but it was a wonderful opportunity for her. She came to visit a couple minutes ago by chance and was so kind to offer to help serve the tea."

He smiled at Ino. "What an amusing coincidence. Why don't you stay and join our conversation, Kikuyo? If that's alright, Tsuma" he asked Tsuma.

"Oh, yes of course!" Tsuma exclaimed. "If you don't mind, Nara-sama."

Ino sat in the lone unoccupied chair in the room. She sat very straight, feeling awkward while Naomi moved out of the room. She could feel Shosen's eyes on her as he watched her carefully.

"Kikuyo brought over those lovely tulips for us today, Gosho. Wasn't that nice of her?"

Gosho nodded. He said gruffly, "Yes, thank you, Kikuyo."

"It was my pleasure, Gosho-sama," Ino said with a smile. "My aunt and uncle come to market every Thursday to sell their tulips. They have the best ones in The Land of Rivers."

There was a knock on the front door and then several voices in the parlor. Naomi poked her head into the living room. "Gosho-sama, Tsuma-sama, Kaikei is here to see you. He's in the library. He was it was urgent."

Gosho raised an eyebrow. "An accounting emergency?"

Tsuma rose from the couch. "Tell him we'll be right there." Turning to Shikamaru she said, "I might apologize, Nara-sama. We've been working on a contract with Kirigakure. We're hoping to close the deal in the next couple days. Would you mind—"

"Not at all," Shikamaru said. Gosho nodded and stood up as well. He said in his deep gruff voice, "I don't think this should take too long, but we need to send a response to Kiri in the next couple hours."

Shosen leaned back in his chair. "I can answer any questions you might have in the meantime, Nara-sama. I'm not quite as knowledgeable about the business as my father, but I can help you as best that I can."

The door closed behind Gosho, Tsuma, and Naomi. Ino could hear them walking over to the library to talk with their accountant. An accounting emergency? She wondered what it was really about. Shikamaru put a hand to the other man's shoulder and said, "Thank you, Shosen. I really appreciate it."

Ino gasped out in surprise as Shikamaru pressed a pressure point and knocked the other man out. "Nara-sama!"

"No one's here, Ino," Shikamaru whispered. "You don't need to keep up the pretense. Could you do a mindread on him? I want to know where he's been going on these voyages. I think that the Nakamura family is working for ROOT."

Ino gasped. Walking over to the couch, she sat on Shosen's other side. "Are you sure? I worked here for three weeks. No shinobi ever came into the house."

He pursed his lips. "I've already gone to the trouble of knocking him out for you. Might as well make it worth our while."

She put a hand to Shosen's forehead. "How did you learn to do that?"

"Do what?"

"Knock him out like that? You didn't use any chakra."

"Pressure points. I learned it with the Twelve Guardian Shinobi. Hurry up, we don't have much time!"

"Oh, sorry," she said, closing her eyes and focusing.

It was always much easier to break into the mind of a civilian than the mind of a shinobi. Shinobi would often have mental blocks in place. Even if a civilian wanted to create a mental block, they didn't have the chakra required to do so without assistance from a shinobi.

So why did Shosen have a mental block in his mind? It was advanced; it looked like something of Fu Yamanaka's design. The trap was very subtle, hardly noticeable, but the little puppet trap gave her pause.

"Fu Yamanaka put a mental block and trap in this man's mind," she murmured to Shikamaru as she worked on unsealing the block and moving past the trap without tampering with it. She didn't want anyone else to know she'd been in this man's mind.

"Fu was one of Danzo's right hand men. That's undeniable evidence of ROOT's involvement. What else?"

_They were on a ship and he was standing at the helm. Shosen looked up from the map to laugh at something his first lieutenant had said. Shosen sneered, "We're not allowed to touch the kunoichi on the way to Tani, but anything goes on the way back."_

_The first lieutenant jeered, "They're already pregnant, right?"_

_Shosen nodded. "Just be careful. Some of kunoichi'll go for anything and others'll bite your dick right off. The civilian woman won't protest. They're just whores anyway; they asked for this."_

_"What happens to the civilians after they give birth?" wondered the first lieutenant. "I don't think I've seen the same one twice."_

_"Well the evidence needs to be destroyed, right?"_

She blinked her eyes open. Shikamaru's dark eyes stared back at her. "Well?"

"Shika," she whispered, "they're the ones transporting the pregnant women."

"I thought there was something strange about their revenue stream," Shikamaru muttered.

Ino looked up at him. "Some of the woman…some of them aren't even ROOT operatives," she whispered. "They're civilians. They kill the women after they give birth, the ones that aren't a part of ROOT."

Shikamaru stood up and paced the room. Ino sighed unhappily before rising to her feet. Her blood pressure dropped suddenly. Before she could steady herself, Shikamaru was upon her, gripping her tightly in his arms. He stared down at her with concern. "Are you alright?" The blood was returning to her head and the color back to her cheeks, but she was too mesmerized by him to answer. He was looking at her like he actually gave a damn. "Ino, are you alright?" he asked again.

She nodded. "I just stood up too suddenly. Nothing to worry about."

He put a hand to her belly. His large hand stood out starkly against the black fabric. "Ino, are you sure you're alright? You've looked pale every morning serving breakfast and just now you almost fainted."

She smiled up at him. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

He frowned at her. "Something is obviously not fine," he hissed.

Ino pursed her lips. "It's morning sickness and dizzy spells. I had them when I was pregnant with the triplets too."

He cursed. "Ino, we need to pull you out of this mission. What's your endgame? Do you have a way to get out of Tani and the Land of Rivers without arousing suspicion?"

"My fake Aunt and Uncle who live in the countryside. They're here on Thursdays for the market. I was planning to leave with them when this is all over."

He nodded in approval. "Today's Thursday. You're leaving today."

"What?" she gasped out in protest. "No! I'm not ready to leave yet!"

He huffed in annoyance, gripping her tighter in his arms. "I'm the team captain here, Ino. I hate to pull rank on you, but it's my call."

"It's hardly noticeable," she whispered back. "I'm in my own wing of the house. No one's noticed and no one's going to notice. I've been careful. I can complete the mission."

He smoothed his hands across her belly and up her sides. "You're putting on weight." Her breath hitched as one of his hands lightly brushed the bottom of her breast. "I've noticed. It won't be long before someone else does." His hands settled on her belly again. She tilted her head up, closed her eyes, and parted her lips. "I'm surprised that Gin hasn't noticed yet," He mused. "Are you modifying his memories after you sleep with him so he doesn't realize?"

She blinked her eyes open. His expression was cold and closed off. She whispered, "I'm not sleeping with Gin."

He scoffed. "You'll have to forgive me if I'm skeptical."

She huffed. "I've modified his memories so he thinks that we're lovers but we're not actually lovers."

He gripped her arm. "And how did you find him unawares? You always did that to me post-coitus."

"I just make sure that things aren't taken too far before I mindwipe him. His mind is heavily protected. I'm having trouble gathering too much information from it."

"We don't know how everyone will react when your pregnancy is discovered. It's dangerous for you and the baby. You should have never taken the mission in your condition. Kami, what were you thinking, Ino?"

She glared up at him. "I can't live like this, sleeping with one eye open, looking over my shoulder. This is the first real lead we've had in years, Shika. Besides, during the ROOT incident I was pregnant and—"

"That's not the same, Ino," he hissed back. "Deceiving your friends in your home village is hardly the same as deceiving your enemies in a foreign village. The consequences of failure here are—"

"Don't you think that I haven't considered the risks, Shika? I'm not a fool," she whispered. "Do you really think that I would leave my children for two months and risk your baby if—"

"You're leaving today," he snapped. "No exceptions."

"Auntie and Uncle will have already left by now," she countered with a little smirk. "It's too late to leave this week."

He narrowed his eyes, considering her. He was probably wondering if she was lying. "Then I want you leaving with them next Thursday. Say your goodbyes, make up your excuses and go back to Konoha. One week."

"One month," she countered. "You're here for another month. I'll leave when you leave."

"One week," he growled.

"Three weeks."

"One week."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You don't seem to understand this haggling thing, Shika. I lower my price and you raise yours until we reach a compromise."

He gripped her arms tightly and pulled her closer to him. Lowering his head, he whispered heatedly, "Ino, you can't use chakra without blowing your cover. You and that baby are _defenseless_!"

She shivered against him, hissing back, "Don't treat me like a child or an invalid. I'm a kunoichi. Infiltration and information gathering are my specialty. You won't be able to complete this mission without me." He snorted. She gritted her teeth. "Who was the one who read Shosen's mind? You would have never gotten this information without me."

His eyebrows tilted up as he stared down at her. "I've deduced everything you've discovered so far, Ino. You've given me confirmation, nothing more. Now if you can tell me where the ROOT base is, then maybe I'll be impressed."

She took a deep breath to calm herself. His smirk made her blood boil. The ROOT base? Two separate memories warred for her attention: two dark haired men in her mindscape theorizing over a map and one sea captain poring over a map. "Uzushiogakure."

Shikamaru blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Yugakure was a village that had been almost destroyed and then rebuilt by ROOT. They're probably doing the same thing. They're hiding their army in a village that was destroyed that they've rebuilt. No one would think to look in the ruins of an old village. One of Shosen's memories was plotting a course to navigate the shoals and the whirling tides near Uzushiogakure. That must be where the main force is. The Shinobi World believes that Uzushiogakure is deserted. What if it isn't?"

He stared down at her in surprise. "It's a sound theory with evidence to support it, circumstantial at best, but worth pursuing. I'll send along the information to Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato."

She smirked at him. "What were you saying earlier about wanting to be impressed?"

He brushed her hair back, running his hands through the short blonde strands. She looked up at him curiously. "Promise me something, Ino," he whispered. "Promise me that you won't do anything reckless."

She put a hand to his cheek. "I could say the same for you." She closed her eyes and parted her lips, waiting for him to kiss her. He put a finger to her lips and she opened her eyes to stare at him with disappointment.

He indicated Shosen unconscious on the sofa. "We can't waste any more time. We need to clean up our mess. Can you modify his memories?"

Ino nodded. "What was our conversation about?"

"I'll tell you what to say."

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido.  
_

ACT TWO

* * *

SCENE FOURTEEN

INT. HOKAGE's OFFICE – AFTERNOON

Anko, Kakashi, and Genma open the door to Tsunade's office wearing blinding smiles.

Shizune stops yelling at Tsunade to peer curiously at the newcomers.

KAKAKSHI:

I'm ready for my close up.

Anko strikes a pose, putting a hand on her mesh clad hip.

ANKO:

I was born for this.

GENMA:

(to Shizune)

So when's the director coming? Do we need

to submit audition tapes?

Shizune looks at Genma curiously.

SHIZUNE:

(to Genma)

Are you wearing lip gloss?

GENMA:

(nods)

Gotta look my best for the director of

Makeout Tactics.

Tsunade groans and Shizune narrows her eyes.

SHIZUNE:

(yells)

Where the hell have you three been anyway?

Why couldn't you have gotten here four

weeks sooner?

KAKASHI:

(shrugs)

We got lost on the road of life.

TSUNADE:

(rolls eyes)

Well we're already assigned the mission.

Maybe this'll teach you that the early bird

gets the worm, Kakashi.

ANKO:

Or at least gets a starring role in a porno.

KAKASHI:

(pouts)

You can't be serious. Why couldn't you wait

until we got back? Who'd you give the

mission to?

Shizune glares at Tsunade, who looks mildly apologetic.

TSUNADE:

(clears throat)

Well I was drunk and all the jonin were out

of town, so we somehow ended up assigning

the mission to a group of chunin.

SHIZUNE:

(growls)

Lady Tsunade sent Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and

Shikamaru on the mission.

KAKASHI:

(wide eyed)

My students are starring in one of the

Makeout movies?

SHIZUNE:

(growls)

Yes!

ANKO:

I'm surprised that Inoichi let Ino take that

mission. That seems entirely out of

character for him.

KAKASHI:

I couldn't be more proud of them – or more

jealous.

Shizune crosses her arms over her chest.

TSUNADE:

(mumbles)

Inoichi's away on a mission. He doesn't

know yet.

ANKO:

Well, shit.

SHIZUNE:

We'll have Tsunade write a letter of

introduction for the three of you. Maybe

you can go and replace the chunin squad

before too much damage has been done.

CUT TO:

INT. MAKEOUT TACTICS SET, INO'S TRAILER, BATHROOM - AFTERNOON

Ino leans against the wall looking at a pregnancy test.

INO:

Well, shit.


	16. Chapter 66

**Chapter Sixty-Six**

Many have become chess masters - no one has become the master of chess. - Siegbert Tarrasch

* * *

**Interlude**

_He put a hand to his hip to reassure himself that the letter of introduction and the invitation from the Daimyo were still there. He eyed the tall walls around the city and counted the samurai on the walls. The place was well protected, but there still holes in the security. There was a patch of the west wall that was in the blind spot of the two adjacent guards for two minutes while they did their patrol._

_He presented his papers to the guards at the gate and looked back up at the towering walls. He'd been to the Yakuza Palace only a week previously but the Fire Country's Daimyo had a much more impressive residence. _

_"Nara Shikamaru?" asked one of the men at the gate. "I've heard about you." _

_Shikamaru nodded._

_The other guard handed the invitation back to him and crossed his arms behind his back to stand straighter. "Welcome to the Twelve Guardian Shinobi."_

_"Thank you," said Shikamaru._

* * *

**Nara Shikamaru**

**_She swept into the room carrying the heavy silver tray. It was peppered beef, his favorite. It was a little strange seeing her with such short hair, but she was beautiful all the same. Her black skirts swayed with her as she moved from seat to seat, serving everyone. "Peppered beef, Nara-sama?" she asked, holding out the tray when she arrived at his place. He reached over and placed the beef on his tray._**

**_"Yes, thank you," he said._**

**_She left the room but was back only seconds later but now she had the potatoes and green beans. "Potatoes and green beans, Nara-sama?" she asked, holding out the tray._**

**_"Yes, thank you," he said._**

**_A minute passed and then Ino was back with dessert. She'd lost her black dress and was only wearing the white apron around her waist. He gaped at her as she stood in front of him, her bare breasts even with his face. Her nipples were pebbled with arousal. "Chocolate cake, Nara-sama?" she asked, holding out the tray._**

**_"Yes, thank you," he said._**

**_He gazed in shock at her but nodded, accepting the dessert. She set down the tray on the table to his left and untied the apron from around her waist. She stood in front of him completely naked. He stared in shock. "Lap dance, Nara-sama?" she asked._**

**_"Yes, thank you," he said._**

**_She glanced across the room at Izo and Yukiko who nodded at her to proceed. He followed her gaze and they merely smiled vaguely at him. Gin, who he now noticed sat next to him at the table, slung an arm around Shikamaru's shoulders. "Enjoy her, Nara-sama."_**

**_She sat backwards in Shikamaru's lap, moving her hips over him in soft circles. The sweet heat from her naked core made his erection strain against the limits of his pants. _**

**_"You can touch her," Izo said._**

**_"It's alright," agreed Gin._**

**_He moved his hands to her hips, holding on for dear life as she ground her hips down against his. The tangy scent of her arousal tickled his nose. _**

**_She was wet already; her juices were starting to dampen the crotch of his pants. She reached her arm over her head to wrap around his shoulders, pulling his head towards her for a kiss. She claimed his mouth, tangling her tongue with his. _**

**_He slid his hands up to her breasts, kneading and tweaking them as she let out a moan from deep in her throat. Their tongues fought for dominance as she rubbed her hot core over his clothed erection. His hands glided over her skin, mapping the delicate lines of her shoulders, the generous swell of her breasts, the gentle curve from her waist to her hips. _**

**_Gin laughed next to him. "Enjoying yourself, Ambassador?"_**

**_"Kikuyo," Yukiko said. "You need to have him come inside you, remember? ROOT needs you to steal the Nara clan bloodline." _**

**_Breathing heavily, she stood up and turned around so she was facing him. She ground her hips down against his, claiming his lips again in a passionate kiss. Tugging down his pants and boxers, she swept her hips over his and then sunk down on him, pushing his cock into her hot center. He thrust up panting and she keened in reply… _**

He jolted out of bed with a groan, hard as a rock. He felt equal parts aroused and disgusted. Kami, what the hell was wrong with him?

He sat up in bed, holding his head in his hands. He could still feel her soft curves in his hands, her slick walls around his member, and taste her tongue in his mouth. Sighing in annoyance, he threw off the covers and wandered to the bathroom to finish himself off. Thoughts and imagines of that troublesome woman were right behind his eyelids as he pumped his shaft.

Afterwards, he moved to the desk in his room. He ran a hand through his loosened hair and read through the reports and files presented to him from the jonin of Tanigakure. He'd had to pen a note to Naruto about his progress.

Huffing in annoyance at his lack of control, he bit his thumb and pressed his hand down on the table. A little white fox appeared on his desk in front of him.

"Message for Baka-sama?"

"I'm going to write it and then could you deliver it to him and the others, Fukuyemon?"

"Sure."

* * *

**Interlude**

_After meeting with the Daimyo and getting the sash declaring his membership in the Twelve Guardian Shinobi, he was taken by the guards to the sparring field on the outskirts of the Daimyo's Palace where the Twelve – or Eleven, currently – were practicing._

_He was going to have trouble remembering all of their names: Seiren, Yuuki, Jihi, Sonkei, Shoujiki , Meiyo, Shuusei , Oyakoko , Ai, Kaigo, and Daichi._

_One stood out among the others, Daichi. He wasn't the tallest or the strongest or the oldest, but there was something in the other man's dark eyes that called to Shikamaru: Wisdom and Understanding._

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido._

ACT 3

* * *

SCENE FIFTEEN

* * *

INT. HOKAGE's OFFICE – AFTERNOON

Inoichi and Shikaku walk up the stairs to Tsunade's office.

INOICHI:

I can't wait to see my darling daughter.

SHIKAKU:

She still giving you trouble about ANBU?

INOICHI:

She wants to join. I don't think she's

ready. She's still a child. She's too

young to do some of the missions required by

ANBU.

SHIKAKU:

ANBU is a bit much for sixteen year olds.

I'm glad you've convinced her otherwise. If

she joined, I'm sure Shikamaru would have

wanted to join as well.

INOICHI:

(nods)

I'm glad that Shikamaru's so protective of her.

SHIKAKU:

He's a good kid. But ANBU might not be too

bad. They wouldn't have Ino doing seduction

missions. That's a part of T&I after all,

as you know. ANBU would probably just have

Ino doing assassinating, kidnapping, and

throat slitting. Nothing too bad.

INOICHI:

The thought of some worthless punk

defiling my darling daughter keeps me up at

night. I'm planning to send her away to the

Fire Temple to be a Virgin Priestess as soon

as she turns eighteen.

SHIKAKU:

(raises an eyebrow)

That seems extreme even for you, Inoichi.

INOICHI:

(shrugs)

If you had a daughter, you'd understand.

Shikaku opens the door to Tsunade's office and they head inside. Shizune paces and Tsunade is passed out at her desk.

SHIKAKU:

(raises eyebrows)

Rough day?

SHIZUNE:

You could say that.

TSUNADE:

(groans)

Are you here to yell at me too?

SHIKAKU:

(looks confused)

We're just back from our mission.

Tsunade raises her head and looks at them with bloodshot eyes.

TSUNADE:

(mumbles)

So you're not mad that we sent Ino and

Shikamaru on a mission to star in a porno?

INOICHI:

(yells)

WHAT!?


	17. Chapter 67

**Chapter Sixty-Seven**

Along with my retirement from chess analytical work seems to have gone too. - Mikhail Botvinnik

* * *

**Yamanaka Ino**

Ino ruffled the fur on Drent's head as he jumped up and rested his paws against her knees. Sayuri chuckled and said, "He doesn't usually take to people as quickly as he did to you."

Ino giggled, rubbing the back of Drent's head. "He's just darling."

Sayuri pursed her lips in thought for a moment before saying, "Kikuyo, I'm going to be heading out of town for a couple days to visit my mother. I was hoping to find someone to watch Drent while I was gone, but the friend that usually does will be out of the village as well. I don't suppose…"

Grinning up at the other woman, Ino said with a bright smile, "I'd love to!"

She picked up the tea tray off the counter and hurried off to deliver the afternoon tea to Jiton Izo. Izo and Yukiko were sitting in the parlor together poring over a document. When she put the tea down she saw that they had a scroll and a codex open as they tried to decode a document.

"Tea and cookies, Izo-sama, Yukiko-sama," said Ino with a bow. "Please let me know if I can bring you anything else.

"Thanks, Kikuyo," said Izo distractedly as he pulled the codex back and scratched his head.

Her eyes flickered over the codex before she bowed and headed out of the room. How had Tani acquired a Konoha codex? With it they could decode any encrypted document sent by Konoha.

She paused by the door barely breathing as she tried to catch a bit of their conversation. What if Shikamaru had mentioned her in his message?

"I can't make heads or tails of this, Izo."

"Should we get Gin? He's good at these sorts of puzzles."

"I would give anything to know what message Nara Shikamaru sent to the Hokage last night," sighed Yukiko. "Do you think our codex is out of date? Are they using new encryption keys?"

"It's the latest one from Konoha. Nara Shikamaru is just using his own encryption key. He didn't even use the codex when writing the letter up, but the codex works to decode the first layer of the encryption."

"He did this without a codex? That's incredible," said Yukiko in wonder.

"Gin's watching the tapes of his rooms. He watched him write the letter last night but that didn't help either."

"Nara Shikamaru's getting suspicious of us. Should we try to throw him off the trail?" asked Yukiko.

"He's only here for a couple more weeks. We just need to make sure that he doesn't figure anything out before he leaves."

* * *

**Interlude**

_He'd finished packing up his belongings to take to the Daimyo's palace. He glanced down at the massive tome on his desk. He ran a reverent hand over the beaten leather cover. He would have liked to take it with him, but it wasn't his. It was Naruto's._

_Naruto had given it to him, saying he had no interest in reading a million pages on sealing jutsu with each page more boring than the last. Shikamaru found them fascinating. He'd learned so much from Uzumaki Mito's, Uzumaki Kushina's, Namikaze Minato's, and Jiraiya's additions to the ancient tome. There was even a Fuuinjutsu that someone had invented to add extra pages when they ran out of room._

_He would turn the tome over to Naruto before he left. He'd committed it to memory anyway; he would just recall the words and formulas on his own at a later date. He opened to one page in particular that he'd found interesting._

_Jiraiya's additions usually started with amusing anecdotes about how something went terribly wrong during the invention of the jutsu and the Sannin had found himself being chased out of town by a group of enraged women, angry husbands, irate goats, etc._

_Summoning Scrolls in practice were passed down from sensei to student. Naruto was the only exception. While on the continent of the summons, the animal clans practically lined up to have him sign their scrolls. They considered him the second coming of the Sage of the Six Paths._

_However, Jiraiya hadn't been given the Toad Summoning Scroll by his sensei. He was given the scroll by the toads. He had performed a summoning jutsu without first possessing a summoning contract. Instead of having it blow up in his face, he was taken to the animal clan best suited for him. _

_Shikamaru rubbed his chin. Maybe he would try that himself someday. _

* * *

**Hatake Kakashi**

He scratched his head as he went about decoding the message. Shiho and the rest of Konoha's Cryptology Team had been apologetic that they'd been unable to decipher the message.

"There are several layers of encryption," Shiho explained. Her messy blonde hair was pushed back a little from her face as if she'd been pulling at it in frustration. Taking off her spiral glasses, she rubbed her eyes. "It's remarkably sophisticated, like nothing I've ever seen. The first two layers are consistent with our codex, but we're unable to make heads or tails the subsequent layers of encryption. Our best chance of decoding it is to have someone review it who has knowledge of both Shikamaru and his mission."

Well the Hokage Emeritus had drawn the short straw. He protested that he didn't know Shikamaru best and then Naruto and Yamato protested that he was the best with these sorts of puzzles, so he could at least get things started.

He glanced back down at the paper unhappily. It didn't make any sense. They'd run through the first two layers of encryption to get the message but it was gibberish.

**YELLOWFLASH**

**HA – H – K **

**KB – Y – B**

**UC – V – C**

**CK – J – R**

It just continued like that: random letters in groups of threes. They went down the page, forty in all. How annoying. It didn't make any sense at all.

"Say, Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto. "Remember during the fight with Pein how Jiraiya sent that message and you needed to read us pages of Icha Icha Tactics to break it?"

"I try not to," quipped the Konoha Councilor. "That was as uncomfortable for me as it was for you and Shikamaru."

"Do you think Shikamaru's doing the same thing?" wondered Naruto.

Yamato scratched his head. "I doubt that he has committed Icha Icha Tactics to memory."

"He does have a – what do you call it, I-did-it – memory," noted Naruto.

"Eidetic," Yamato corrected.

Kakashi wrote the alphabet on the side and put corresponding numbers next to it. And then began to write letters and numbers beneath Shikamaru's numbers.

**YELLOWFLASH**

**81 – 8 – 11**

**112 – 25 – 2**

**213 – 22 – 3**

**311 – 10 – 18 **

As Kakashi began writing the numbers on the side of the paper, Yamato scratched his head. "Do you think that this is from Icha Icha Tactics? Does Icha Icha really have 311 pages?"

"None of Jiraiya's books are over two hundred pages," Kakashi said. He sat back for a second and said, "Why do you think we have YELLOWFLASH at the top of the page?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Damned if I know."

"Something to do with the Hirashin?" wondered Kakashi. "You and Shikamaru learned the Hirashin together, didn't you, Naruto."

"Sure," agreed Naruto. "Though it was more like Shikamaru teaching himself and then teaching me. He's read through all the Uzumaki sealing scrolls."

"He's just as good with sealing jutsu as Jiraiya was," Kakashi agreed, "Maybe better."

"How long is the scroll about the Hirashin?" wondered Yamato.

Naruto paused in thought. "It's actually in a book that mom and dad wrote about Fuuinjutsu. Jiraiya added to it after they died. It's huge, like 500 pages or something. I stopped after reading the first chapter. It was a snooze fest."

Kakashi rubbed a hand over his eyes. "That must be the book that we need to reference. These are page, line, and word numbers. Naruto can you go get the book? We can start decoding after I finish transcribing the letters to numbers."

Naruto flashed away to get the book while Kakashi continued writing down the numbers. Glancing up at Yamato, he said, "There's a second page. Want to work on that one?"

"Nope." Yamato grinned. "I'm enjoying watching you do work too much to spoil it."

Kakashi pouted but went back to decoding. "This is why I retired from being Hokage. I hate having to do work."

Naruto was back a couple moments later with the book and Yamato worked on decoding the message while Kakashi continued translating the letters to numbers. "Why did he have to translate the numbers into letters in the first place? This is so annoying," Kakashi said.

"It would throw anyone off the trail. They'd think it was part of the message, not a code of numbers for looking something up," Yamato countered. Turning back to Naruto, he continued, "Line five, word eighteen," said Yamato.

"Pregnant," read Naruto.

"Pregnant? Are you sure?" wondered Yamato.

Naruto nodded, passing the book to Yamato. "See for yourself."

Kakashi glanced up at the book as well. "It says pregnant."

Yamato handed him the code. "Can you check those numbers again, Kakashi? There must be a mistake."

Kakashi pouted but did as Yamato asked. "It's right. Page fifty, line five, word eighteen. Pregnant."

**"MY MISSION PARTNER IS PREGNANT**," Naruto read. "What?"

Kakashi felt a cold chill pass over him. "That happens in deep infiltration missions sometimes. If Ino had to seduce someone to maintain her cover and…"

"Oh Kami," gasped Naruto. "This is terrible!"

"What does the rest of that message say?" wondered Yamato. "Page one, line one, word fifteen."

"**WITH**" read Naruto.

"With what?!" Yamato gasped. "Page one, line thirty, word two."

"**MY**" continued Naruto.

"With his?!" Yamato cried out. "Page one hundred forty five, line seven, word fifteen."

"**CHILD!**" Naruto exclaimed. "It's Shikamaru's baby!"

"What the hell's going on over there?!" wondered Yamato.

"Why don't you just finish decoding the message instead of gasping after you read each word?" Kakashi groused.

Naruto and Yamato whirled on him. "Aren't you the least surprised by this!?"

"I'm relieved it's Shikamaru's and not some slimy Tani shinobi, but we need to read the rest of the message," Kakashi continued.

Naruto and Yamato frowned at him but continued translating the message. When they were done, they sat back and read it.

**PROSTITUTION AND DRUGS LEGAL HERE**

**FOREIGN SHINOBI PARTAKE**

**RED LIGHT DISTRICT BOOMING**

**BLOODLINES STOLEN HERE**

**CHILDREN TAKEN ELSEWHERE**

**UZUSHIOGAKURE MAY BE HEADQUARTERS OF ROOT**

**MY MISSION PARTNER IS PREGNANT WITH MY CHILD**

**SHE WILL RETURN TO KONOHA AHEAD OF SCHEDULE**

Kakashi crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. "We should inform the other four kage and the four kage alone that we have a lead on ROOT. We should tell them to be ready to move as soon as we give them the go ahead."

"Uzushiogakure," Naruto muttered to himself.

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to be including a little amusing story at the ends of The King chapters:**

_Makeout Tactics_

_Being an actress for the latest Icha Icha movie might be Ino's strangest mission yet. If only her mission teammates weren't a hyperactive pervert, an antisocial cold fish, and a genius whose intellect was only surpassed by his libido._

* * *

ACT 3

* * *

SCENE SIXTEEN

INT. INO'S TRAILER – EVENING

Ino hands Shikamaru a pregnancy test

SHIKAMARU:

(gasps)

What do you mean you're pregnant? Weren't

you on birth control?

INO:

(nods)

Yeah. I have that seal.

SHIKAMARU:

Troublesome.

INO:

Well Shikamaru, it looks like you're going

to be a father.

SHIKAMARU:

(pales)

Your dad is going to kill me.

INO:

(shakes her head)

What are you talking about? My dad loves

you!

SHIKAMARU:

(pales)

Not anymore he doesn't. I knocked up his

precious baby girl. He's going to scramble

my brains or castrate me or -

INO:

(protesting)

He's not going to do that!

SHIKAMARU:

(ponders)

I wonder if I should leave the country, at

least until he calms down. I could come

back in like twenty years after this has all

blown over.

INO:

(growls)

Don't you dare leave the country, Shikamaru

Nara or I'LL scramble your brains.

SHIKAMARU:

Troublesome.


End file.
